#NEW: Internal email shared with @CapitalDailyVic shows #yyj hospitals are too full to accept patients and are considering emergency steps like renting hotel rooms.
Healthcare workers say #COVID19 hospitalizations on the rise + surgeries being postponed
@CapitalDailyVic “I am writing to let you all know that we are facing an extreme overcensus situation at all of our acute care sites,” reads the email which was sent to staff at Victoria General Hospital, and shared with @zoeducklow
According to ER physician Dr. Jeff Unger, all 3 ERs (RJH, VGH, Saan Pen) were full on Sunday and RJH was on ambulance diversion for a part of the night.
A nurse at RJH tells us surgeries are being postponed because there are too many COVID patients in surgical units.
This surge—predicted by healthcare workers and experts—coincides with employee burnout & a staffing crisis, plus a lack of daily hospitalization and death data, making it much more difficult to tell what's really happening.
#BREAKING: Starting midnight tonight until Jan. 18, new BC PHO orders:
- Closing bars, nightclubs, gyms, fitness centres, and dance studios;
- Cancelling all organized indoor gatherings of any size
- Max. 6 per table at restaurants, cafes
New measures announced due to data that came to light over the weekend re: how transmissible omicron is even among vaxxed + potential to overwhelm hospitals.
Cases increasing among all age groups, but mostly in 19-59yr olds (i.e. working age people)
#NEW: My latest for @CapitalDailyVic analyzes the rapidly deteriorating situation in BC and particularly on Vancouver Island, where #Omicron is expected to fuel 400+ daily cases by Christmas
Under current public health guidance, people who test positive are not always told whether they have #omicron. Lauren, a #yyj nurse, deduced so from her symptoms.
Contact tracers told her close contacts they don't need to isolate unless they have symptoms