Sudbury hospital continues to report high COVID admissions, as public health restrictions ease

As restrictions continue to ease across Ontario, the head of the hospital in Sudbury said they are continuing to see a record number of COVID-19 patients admitted to Health Sciences North.

As of Wednesday, Health Sciences North president and CEO Dominic Giroux said there are 68 admitted COVID patients, including 10 in the ICU. He said there are also 45 past-positive COVID patients admitted, people previously admitted for COVID-19 who are no longer positive.

Earlier in the week, Grioux said there were a record 76 admitted COVID patients admitted, including 8 in the ICU.

"Essentially this week, we've seen record levels of COVID admissions and also a record number of staff isolating at home, either they tested positive themselves or are isolating because they are a close contact," he said.

Giroux said currently 4.4 per cent of staff are at home due to COVID-19.

"That's close to 200 employees who have tested positive or are isolating," he said.

"So more precisely, 142 employees have tested positive and 62 others are isolating." 

Giroux said 110 employees have been moved to other departments to assist and some patient procedures are affected.

"We appreciate that everyone is tired of the pandemic but right now, we are still at a peak in Sudbury," he said.

"I think it's important to keep in mind that of the 34 public health units in the province, the top five health units with the highest number of active cases per capita are in the north."

Giroux said it's difficult to explain to patients at the hospital about the restrictions still in place, when other restrictions are lifting in the community

"But right now for us at HSN this week, it's the worst it's been so far in the pandemic," he said.

'Lagging indicators'

Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, the medical officer of health for Public Health Sudbury and Districts, said she has concerns about the numbers at Health Sciences North.

"We want to be seeing a downward trend, not an upwards or stable trend," she said.

"Hospitalizations and ICU admissions are lagging in terms of what we see in the community."

She said it can be difficult to get a handle on the current COVID situation, since PCR testing is limited to certain groups such as those connected to high risk settings, including hospitals and long-term care facilities.

"This is why it's those lagging indicators and metrics that we're seeing — outbreaks in high-risk settings, admissions to hospital, admissions to ICU — it's why we're monitoring those things right now because we don't have a good handle on the number of cases in the community."

Sutcliffe said she's hopeful the Sudbury-Manitoulin district will follow provincial trends of case counts and hospitalization rates go down.

"We're in a bit of a careful, watchful, waiting place right now where hopefully, we'll see these metrics or measures trend in a way that is more positive. But we only know that in retrospect," she said.

"My, you know, crystal ball is broken, but my crystal ball, as good as it is, is that we should be following the similar trend to what we've seen elsewhere, where they had Omicron introduced into the population earlier."

Sutcliffe said she's encouraging people to get vaccinated, wear a mask and stay home when sick.

"Am I concerned? I'm vigilant, watching carefully, hopeful that they'll follow the trend with the rest of the province and start seeing those numbers go down," she said.