45 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Mississauga Tuesday; Ontario nurses push for further assurances for PPE supplies

Peel Public Health confirmed an additional 45 cases of the novel coronavirus in the City of Mississauga on Tuesday morning, bringing the total to 361, a 14 percent increase over yesterday. 

At Trillium Health Partners, which operates Credit Valley Hospital and Mississauga Hospital, as part of its overall network that also includes the Queensway Health Centre in Toronto (which has been converted into a COVID-19 treatment facility), 384 individuals have tested positive for the virus, a 5 percent increase from Monday, and 49 people are currently being treated in its facilities. 

COVID-19 statistics from the Region of Peel as of April 7. 

Hospitals across the province have already started to put measures in place to conserve existing supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including limiting the number of masks each nurse receives for a shift. Previously, these masks were single-use and a different one was worn for each patient. Now, the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) has raised the alarm bell about the potential impact on workers in the province’s long term care homes. 

Since the beginning of the infection, the elderly have reportedly been at particular risk of dying from the virus. When the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, it was those over the age of 80 who initially reported severe symptoms from the virus. As the coronavirus spread across the globe, this began to change. 

In Ontario, those 80 and over make up only 10.6 percent of confirmed cases, while those between the ages of 40 and 79 make up 60 percent. Although the demographics impacted by the virus have shifted, the elderly population continues to be at high risk of serious complications or death, and nowhere is this more clear than Ontario’s long-term care homes. 

According to data from the province, there are currently 46 ongoing outbreaks of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities across Ontario. The virus has infected 456 residents and 280 staff members and killed 56 people. 

COVID-19 case characteristics from Ministry of Health.

Now, the ONA is calling on the province to make supplying these homes with proper PPE a priority, for both residents and staff. 

“Our long-term care residents have lived in and supported this province for most of their lives. They are the heart and soul of Ontario, and have put in years of endless hard work to make Ontario strong and vibrant. Now is the time for Ontario to take tireless efforts to protect them,” states ONA President Vicki McKenna in a news release. “We must ensure appropriate staffing, evidence-based infection control protections, and safe working conditions in long-term care. This would be the start to protecting our residents.”

McKenna says she is “horrified” by the conditions in some long-term care homes in Ontario which she describes as “abysmal”. Limited PPE for healthcare workers, and dwindling numbers of essential supplies, are only the beginning. 

The need for nurses and other front-line professionals to work at multiple homes, due to a lack of hours or pay is also putting residents at risk, McKenna added. 

“This piecemeal approach with casual and part-time workers coming in and out of various homes is very unsafe in this pandemic,” she continues. “Workers in long-term care must have the right to work in one home with full-time hours and work with the same residents. This approach is also best for our residents and decreases the impact of any potential spread of COVID-19.”

The ONA is calling on the provincial government to take action to ensure a continuous supply of PPE, and to make sure that any new staff hired in long-term care homes have infection control training. The ONA represents over 68,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals in Ontario.

The shortage of PPE was also addressed by Premier Doug Ford in a press conference Monday, when it was noted that without an influx of supplies, the province could run out of critical PPE in a week. The situation is slightly improved by a new deal reached between Canada and the United States that will allow PPE to continue to be imported into Canada. The system was thrown into turmoil last week when President Donald Trump ordered manufacturer 3M to stop exporting equipment north of the border and to markets in Latin America. With Canada now exempt from this order, it helps alleviate some pressure on the system, but won’t completely solve the issue. 

“This is always on my mind, I don’t sleep at night thinking about these PPEs,” Ford said. 

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Twitter: @JoeljWittnebel

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