COVID-19 cases climb, hospitals bracing for the worst following holidays

By Michael Ranger

The first week of 2021 also marks the 43rd week of pandemic life in Canada.

The countries national COVID-19 case count has now surpassed the 600-thousand mark. Officials note that it took just over two weeks to add 100-thousand to the national tally.

Many hospitals in COVID hotspots are now preparing for the worst as they begin to see the result of people breaking pandemic protocols over the holiday season.

Dr. Michael Warner, medical director of critical care at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto, says his hospital has already began to see the effects of holiday gatherings.

Warner telling the Globe and Mail that people who decided to break the rules and ignore advice from health officials over the holiday season will have contributed to a surge in cases in the coming weeks.

“What we have now is people with privilege who think they are somehow different, and rationalize themselves that it’s okay that they get together over the holidays because they deserve it,” said Garron. “Those people are getting COVID-19.”

Despite the arrival of vaccines and a province-wide lockdown in effect, the Ontario Hospital Association is also predicting that things will continue to get worse through January and February.

In a statement provided to the Globe and Mail, OHA president Anthony Dale says he expects those months to be “absolutely brutal.”

On Jan. 1 the Ontario government directed hospitals to increase intensive care unit capacity to 115 per cent. As of that date approximately 20 per cent of the province’s ICU beds were devoted to COVID-19 patients.

Health officials, doctors and government officials have remained steadfast in their message that the best thing to do is to stay home and limit contact.

A number of politicians have admitted to leaving the country over the December holiday period, even as their constituents adhered to public health guidance meant to curb the spread of COVID-19 and hunkered down at home.

The federal government is weighing whether to bar people who have travelled overseas from a new sick-leave benefit that pays up to $1,000 to Canadians who have to quarantine due to COVID-19.

The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit was launched in the fall to help Canadians who are unable to work because they must quarantine during the pandemic. It pays $500 per week to a maximum of two weeks.

With files from the Canadian Press.

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