Province says Ontario's ICU triage protocol hasn't yet been activated
Ontario reported 3,369 new cases of COVID-19 and 29 more deaths on Saturday as overall admissions to intensive care units climbed to 900 for the first time.
Some 2,152 people in the province remain in hospital because of the infectious disease, a figure that has consistently been trending upward since the start of the third wave of the pandemic.
Of the patients in ICUs, 637 require ventilators to breathe.
As hospitals continue to move critically ill patients around the province and bring in health care personnel from other provinces, the Ontario health ministry said on Saturday that it hasn't yet activated an ICU triage protocol.
Activating a triage would mean the hardest decisions health-care providers ever face will have to be made. These decisions include who gets potentially life-saving care and who doesn't.
In a statement, the ministry said the current stay-at-home order — combined with investments to increase hospital beds across the province — means this more drastic step has not yet been taken.
"These efforts combined with the ramping down of elective surgeries and other non-emergent/urgent clinical activity will add an additional 700 — 1,000 beds and ensure our health system has the tools and resources needed to provide world-class care to every Ontarian who requires hospitalization," the ministry said in the statement.
