CCBI News – COVID-19 Surge: Two Sub-Variants; Record Delays in ERS; Staff, Space, Aging Population; Francis on the Elderly

July 8, 2022

Dear Friends of CCBI,

The Pandemic and Sub-Variants

Yogi Berra famously remarked in an optimistic vein that, “It ain’t over till it’s over,” which sounds familiarly Irish logic to me! This cautionary approach comes into play in the knowledge that there is a definite upsurge in COVID-19 cases, mainly due to two current sub-variants, coupled with the fact that numbers rise when restrictions are eased, as they have been in many areas.

Dr Fahad Razak of the Ontario Science Table tells us that to be aware that at the same time hospital capacity is already over-stretched, advising that some restrictions should remain to prevent as many hospitalizations as possible. Staff, ICUs and health care services in general are stretched to the limit in many areas and at risk of burn-out and failing. As one article notes: “Hallway medicine is back!” Some good news is that most public health officials and epidemiologists seem convinced that adequately vaccinated people, although still vulnerable to COVID, should have fewer serious effects of the virus and are unlikely to face death. Dr Razak reminds us, however, that bad results still loom for unvaccinated people and those considered under-vaccinated, therefore provincial governments are being urged to make third and fourth doses more widely available. Political will to do so appears to be lacking and public health officials need to continue to inform people of the benefits of further vaccines to protect themselves but also to protect the elderly at risk and those already compromised.

Fourth doses of the vaccine are currently available in Ontario only for those over 60 or otherwise at risk, and opposition parties are urging the government to make them readily available to protect the vulnerable and to reduce the burden on the health care system. Many have not yet availed themselves of third doses, believing that two doses are enough  Public health officials, however, continue to warn us not only about the Omicron sub-variants’ immediate challenge, but also point out that more variants are likely to arise, and the public should not shrug off the risk that Canada’s health care system may not be able to cope with increasing numbers of patients needing care. Vaccinations are not a panacea, but help limit spread and prevent major complications caused by the virus, including long-COVID.

Record Delays in ERs

A major sign that the system is already strained is to be found in reports that many patients who require hospital admission from the emergency department are forced to wait for hours, sometimes days, on a stretcher until a bed becomes available. This is such an indignity for patients lying helplessly and sometimes in pain in a narrow corridor, as streams of workers and visitors chat and laugh in passing. It’s true that life must go on, but, as Pope Francis remarked in his message for the World Day of the Sick this year: “When individuals experience frailty and suffering in their own flesh as a result of illness, their hearts become heavy, fear spreads, uncertainties multiply, and questions about the meaning of what is happening in their lives become all the more urgent.” We forget that an ethical response to the sick demands not just treatment of the ailment, but extra attention to concerns about their very person!

Delays in treatment also mean that when symptoms are not treated quickly, further problems can develop and hospital stays will be longer, adding to costs even more. Sadly, doctors report that many of these problems are not new, but that the pandemic has worsened matters, inflaming the situation and resulting in staff burnout and resignations. The co-chair of public affairs with the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, said a major underlying problem is the lack of sufficient space in long-term care and other health institutions to meet the needs of an aging population. This has long been acknowledged in our health care system and repeatedly stated and observed during the pandemic. Some measures have been taken to remedy this but, clearly, not enough. In turn, though, giving more beds to hospitals and other facilities requires more skilled, competent health care staff to look after the patients, revealing yet another feature of our health care crisis summed up in a recent headline in The Globe and Mail: “Burnt-out Canadian Nurses are shipping out for better working conditions and pay.” According to the article, “Statistics Canada reported that job vacancies in the health care and social assistance sector reached an all-time high of 136,800 in the first quarter of 2022, rising nearly 91 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2020.” These are incredibly high figures already impacting practice, and increasing numbers of COVID cases will put pressure on an already strained system. Perhaps because we are so determined that we are ‘done with COVID,’ we cannot face the problems under our collective noses. Heaven help those who need to access an ER any time in the foreseeable future!

Summer COVID-19 wave different than previous surges, doctors say | Watch (msn.com)
Ontario bracing for summer COVID-19 wave | Watch (msn.com)
Burnt-out Canadian nurses are shipping out for better working conditions and pay – The Globe and Mail
Canadian ERs face record wait times, closures amid labour shortages and resurgence of viruses – The Globe and Mail
POPE FRANCIS’ MESSAGE FOR WORLD DAY OF THE SICK 2022 – Catholics Striving For Holiness
Pope Francis’ Intentions for July: For the Elderly

We pray for the elderly, who represent the roots and memory of a people; may their experience and wisdom help young people to look towards the future with hope and responsibility.

Moira and Bambi