Hospitals in Canada’s most populous province are canceling surgeries, transferring patients and preparing for the potential need for rationing as they face a wave of Covid-19 variants putting more pressure on Ontario’s health care system than ever before in recent history.
According to data collected by Critical Care Services Ontario, the number of adult Covid-19 patients in intensive care unit beds had increased by 44% from the beginning of the month to 623 to 623. About two-thirds of those patients used ventilators. Previously, the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care beds peaked at 415 in mid-January.
“It really is the fight of a lifetime,” said Anthony Dale, head of the Ontario Hospital Association, an advocacy group for 141 hospitals operating in the province. “I’m quite scared of what the next few weeks will look like.”
The situation in Ontario, home to nearly 40% of the Canadian population, contrasts with that in many US states, where vaccinations are delivered more quickly. Canada’s seven-day average of confirmed Covid-19 cases recently eclipsed that of the US per capita for the first time since the early days of the pandemic. Hospitals in neighboring states of New York and Michigan are also seeing increased Covid-19 hospital admissions, but are under less pressure compared to previous waves of infection.
The crisis in Canada is due to an increase in the number of new cases of the highly contagious British variant in addition to a slow roll-out of vaccines. The problem is compounded by the low number of acute hospital beds in the province, which has remained stable over the past two decades despite a growing population.