5 things to know from Health Minister Christine Elliott's update on Ontario's Omicron wave

Ontario is fast-tracking alternatives for internationally educated nurses to bolster the province's health-care workforce amid the Omicron wave.

Well being Minister Christine Elliott introduced particulars of the plan alongside Matthew Anderson, CEO of Ontario Well being, in a digital information convention addressing the province's health-system capability on Jan. 11.

Listed below are 5 take-aways from the announcement.

1. To assist handle shortages within the province's health-care workforce, internationally educated nurses shall be deployed to hospitals and different health-care settings via a collaboration with Ontario Well being and the Faculty of Nurses of Ontario. They may work as a part of a group that shall be supervised by regulated health-care suppliers reminiscent of medical doctors or registered nurses.

Greater than 1,200 candidates have already expressed curiosity in collaborating in this system, and the primary cohort of roughly 300 nurses is anticipated to start coming into the workforce as quickly as potential.

"That is about getting them into this system quicker and coming into the sphere quicker," stated Anderson. "Greater than ever, this wave of the pandemic would require us to work as a system, guaranteeing we make the most of all of our provincial assets to satisfy the wants of sufferers."

2. Excessive ranges of absenteeism because of COVID-19 are persevering with to place additional pressure on Ontario's health-care system.

"Absenteeism proper now could be actually the large pressure on the system," Anderson stated, noting that the cancellation of non-urgent and non-emergency surgical procedures has helped unlock assets and different methods to extend staffing are being explored, reminiscent of probably working with impartial well being services to assist the province's vaccine and testing applications to permit hospital workers there to return to hospitals. "(We're) actually attempting to redeploy our well being human assets in probably the most environment friendly approach potential to fill in any gaps associated to absenteeism."

Hospitals coping with excessive ranges of absenteeism might additionally see COVID-positive workers returned to work, Anderson confirmed.

"This can be a protocol that has been established for all of our hospitals ... There shall be strict necessities and restrictions on areas. If somebody is introduced again below these circumstances, there's restrictions placed on them when it comes to the place they'll work."

3. Ontario nonetheless has the capability to deal with an additional improve in COVID-19 hospitalizations.

"Right now, roughly 600 ICU beds stay accessible in the present day, with the power so as to add practically 500 extra beds if required," Elliott stated. "Our authorities will proceed to intently monitor extended hospitalizations and ICU admissions as we reply to Omicron and won't hesitate to take additional motion."

Elliott added that hospitalization instances are usually shorter for Omicron than for Delta, noting median stays have been about seven days for Omicron versus about 20 days for Delta.

4. Though well being indicators haven't improved since college students have been delayed from returning to high school after the vacation break, Elliott stated the province believes it's protected for college students to return on Jan. 17.

The delay allowed time for extra lecturers and college students to obtain vaccinations and boosters, and extra checks and masks — N95 for lecturers and triple-ply for college students — and HEPA filters to be acquired and distributed.

"We simply wanted a bit extra time to get all these provisions in place," Elliott stated, stressing the significance of children having the ability to return to school rooms. "We all know that it helps college students to be at school for his or her psychological and bodily well being ... We're taking each step that we are able to probably take to be sure that our colleges are protected for our kids to return to."

5. Ontario might quickly attain the height of its Omicron wave.

"There is a sign, the modelling that is been completed and what we're really seeing with hospitalizations and so forth is that we anticipate that this may peak the third/fourth week of January with the primary and second week in February for ICUs," Elliott stated.

Correction — Jan. 11, 2022: This text was edited from a earlier model that mistakenly stated the CEO of Ontario Well being was Matthew Andrews. Actually, his identify is Matthew Anderson.