There will be no mask mandate, just a general recommendation to wear a mask, especially in crowded situations, said the sources, who spoke to The Canadian Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the process publicly. CBC News has reached out to the provincial Department of Health for comment on details. The Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, previously said this fall and winter would see a resurgence of respiratory illnesses and would recommend a mask in certain indoor spaces if hospitals start canceling surgeries to deal with a surge of patients. Meanwhile, medical officials are increasingly urging the public to cover up after children’s hospitals across the province were overwhelmed with young patients in emergency departments, pediatric wards and intensive care units. The move comes during a months-long pediatric drug shortage that is contributing to a higher volume of pediatric ER patients and has many parents and caregivers scrambling online and in stores.
Children’s hospital is seeing ‘historic’ volumes of patients
The CEO of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto wants Ontarians to do three things: wear masks, get flu and COVID-19 shots and stay away from work, family and friends when sick . The hospital announced Friday that it will cut back on surgeries to redeploy staff to those areas, Dr. Ronald Kohn said. “I would certainly encourage universal masking right now, there’s no question it would help,” Cohn said. “It’s extremely busy and although I recognize that words like ‘crisis’ and ‘historic’ and even ‘unprecedented’ have gone from signal to noise over the last two and a half years, we are seeing historic volumes of children in our emergency rooms. , in our regular pediatric wards and in our ICUs”. The CEO of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto wants Ontarians to do three things: wear masks, get flu and COVID-19 shots and stay away from work, family and friends when sick . (Carlos Osorio/CBC) The children coming in are very sick, he said, noting that 38 children in the hospital’s ICU are currently on ventilators. “So far no one has died, thank God,” Cohn said.
“Heartbreak for families and children”
But the cancellation of surgeries is a big blow to children, their families and health workers. “It’s heartbreaking for the families and the kids because, you know, the term ‘elective surgery’ doesn’t really exist in kids,” Cohn told CBC Toronto, adding that it’s about finding the right time to schedule and do the surgery. . “It’s also incredibly morally distressing for all of us as health professionals, recognizing that we can’t actually do these procedures for children, knowing they need them,” Cohn said. The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa opened a second pediatric ICU and had to cancel surgeries to reassign healthcare workers to staff the new space. The Ontario Hospital Association is also asking Ontarians to wear masks indoors and get up-to-date vaccines for COVID-19 and flu.
