Hospitals still under pressure from surge in Omicron patients, staff absences

As the fifth wave of COVID-19 progresses in Saskatchewan, daily case numbers seem to be on the decline, but it could take at least two more weeks for hospitalizations to decrease significantly.

The province set a record with 384 COVID-related hospitalizations on Thursday before the number dropped to 363 on Friday.

Derek Miller, the interim chief operating officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), said an ongoing daily increase in hospital demands has been observed.

He said the health authority is continuing to monitor hospitalization data. The current pressures are attributable to patients with COVID initially and incidentally.

On top of high numbers of COVID patients, Miller said staff absences have strained the health-care system in the province, with Saskatoon especially seeing higher demands on hospitals. The region hit an all-time high with 201 COVID-related hospitalizations on Thursday.

“From a health-care worker absence perspective, we are seeing an impact on services and many of our staff are being asked to work above and beyond in order to ensure there’s minimal disruption on services,” Miller told reporters Thursday.

In a surge plan shared weeks ago, the SHA outlined strategies to respond to high numbers of COVID-19 patients as a result of Omicron.

“As we are experiencing increases in hospitalizations, they include strategies like redeployment of staff,” Miller stated. “As we continue to experience the Omicron pressure, we would take those steps.”

The goal, Miller said, is to minimize the impact to everyday health services provided by the SHA as much as possible.

Miller said the SHA is currently using the capacity it does have in the system and will continue to do so to deal with hospitalization numbers.