Summer COVID-19 case increases add stress to Maritime hospitals
The variety of folks with COVID-19 in Maritime hospitals this summer season continues to climb, with extra week-to-week will increase in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
The additional care required for hospital sufferers contaminated with COVID-19 has been including weight to an already stressed health-care system.
“Proper now, in Nova Scotia, we’ve got over 350 health-care staff off as a consequence of COVID-19 isolation, in order that simply places added burden and pressure,” mentioned Dr. Leisha Hawker, president of Medical doctors Nova Scotia, in an interview Friday.
“Lots of people have been working actually, actually exhausting the final two years and try to take trip. So the staffing scarcity is an enormous challenge proper now.”
There are 44 folks in hospital with COVID-19 in Nova Scotia — primarily based on info supplied from July 12 to 18 — a rise of eight folks from the earlier week.
In New Brunswick, there are 22 folks with COVID-19 in hospital — for the reporting interval of July 10 to 16 — up 5 folks from the earlier week.
On Prince Edward Island, there are 41 folks with COVID-19 in hospital — from July 12 to 18 — up 22 folks from the earlier week.
“The very last thing we want is extra hospitalized COVID sufferers,” mentioned Bernadette Landry, co-chair of the New Brunswick Well being Coalition, in an interview Friday. “Every COVID affected person wants a variety of time.”
Each Landry and Dr. Hawker mentioned a rise folks carrying masks would assist alleviate a few of the healthcare stress.
“The current variant spreads fairly simply,” mentioned Hawker. “Simply with the bigger variety of circumstances, we are going to see a bigger variety of hospitalizations due to that.”
The New Brunswick Well being Coalition made a plea on Friday for the provincial authorities to reintroduce an indoor masks mandate. New Brunswick’s Division of Well being mentioned it wasn’t contemplating the measure, in a press release later within the day.
“We have to do one thing about it,” mentioned Landry, hoping extra folks would contemplate masking up.
“It’s not that tough to put on a masks. It simply signifies that we’re respecting one another and we’re making an attempt to maintain one another as a lot as doable, in addition to the healthcare system.”
