Peel sees largest single-day spike in new COVID cases Tuesday, 31 in Brampton which now faces recent rise in infection rate

Peel’s public health unit confirmed an additional 31 cases of the novel coronavirus in Brampton Tuesday morning, bringing the city’s total to 242. The new cases formed part of an 81 case spike registered across the region, bringing Peel’s total to 638 cases and 9 deaths, one more over yesterday. 

COVID-19 appears to be spreading slightly faster in Brampton than the province as a whole. A look at the statistics over the last week shows that in the city new confirmed cases of the coronavirus have been increasing by 17 percent a day, on average, between March 31 and April 6. By comparison, cases have been increasing by 14 percent a day across the province and 12 percent in Canada.

It’s bad news for Brampton Civic Hospital, the chronically overburdened facility which at the start of the pandemic only had 24 ICU beds to treat seriously ill patients in a city of 650,000 residents. 

By comparison, Mississauga had 100 ICU beds for a city with about 750,000 residents and since the pandemic began, the health system that runs the city’s two hospitals has added 36 more critical care beds, though it’s not clear how they have been allocated between Trillium Health Partners’ three facilities including its Queensway Health Centre in west Toronto.

Trillium has publicly indicated it is now looking to create further critical care capacity.

But in Brampton, where Osler runs the Civic Hospital, the only full service facility, and Peel Memorial which does not admit patients for overnight care, there has been little communication about preparations to deal with the pandemic. Osler also runs Etobicoke General Hospital in Toronto.

Under an article on its website that highlights preparations Osler is making to address COVID-19 there is no information about the number of ICU beds, whether capacity is being expanded, the current number of ventilators or if more are being supplied to meet a potential surge of patients who might need breathing support. 

The only information in Osler’s article is about how the public can donate Personal Protective Equipment such as masks and gloves. It also asks for cash donations. Osler has highlighted a tent at Civic that will help with overflow in the regular emergency department, but it will not help with care for COVID-19 patients.  

The only data on Osler’s website shows 454 people have received a positive diagnosis for COVID-19 at its facilities and that 35 patients are currently being treated for the virus at its hospitals. 

But this data offers little insight about what is happening at Brampton Civic. Osler’s figure of 454 diagnoses does not indicate where these people live, which of its three facilities issued each diagnosis, and what the status of each individual is, for example, how many are now resolved and how many are now hospitalized (they could be hospitalized anywhere). 

There is also no detail for the 35 hospitalized patients in Osler facilities: it’s not known which hospital each patient is in; if they are in a critical care bed; if they are on a ventilator, and whether or not there is enough capacity inside Brampton’s only full service hospital to meet the daily demand. 

All of this information is available to Osler, and The Pointer has been asking for more details to help inform the public in Brampton so residents can understand the local situation. Even Premier Doug Ford implored healthcare administrators to be transparent and ensured Ontarians that they would get the same information he gets so people are aware of the reality in their own communities and can make the best decisions.       

The 454 people diagnosed with COVID-19, is a 15 percent jump since Monday, but it’s unclear where these people live (they could reside outside Brampton or even Peel and there is no indication of how many were diagnosed in Brampton and how many in Etobicoke). 

At particular risk of infection are those on the front line. Yesterday it was confirmed that a Peel paramedic had tested positive for the coronavirus after contracting it while responding to a motor vehicle accident. 

The province has since announced it is making diagnostic information available to first responders in order to ensure they can prepare accordingly if a call they are responding to could put them at risk of exposure to COVID-19. 

"First responders put their lives on the line every day to protect Ontarians and they are at great risk of being directly exposed to COVID-19 as they fulfill their frontline duties. We must do everything in our power to ensure the health and well-being of those working on the frontlines and provide them with the tools they need to do their jobs and keep Ontarians safe,” reads a statement from Christine Elliott, minister of health, and solicitor general Sylvia Jones. 

“With their safety and health in mind, our government has made an emergency order that will allow police, firefighters and paramedics to obtain COVID-19 positive status information about individuals with whom they are coming into contact.”

New measures announced by the province will ensure first responders are aware of a person potentially having COVID-19 ahead of responding to an emergency call. 

This information could also be incredibly useful for Peel police officers, who have stopped attending certain medical calls to limit potential exposure to COVID-19. 

It’s not clear how this information will be shared, but the ministers noted that allowing first responders access to these facts, including whether the person has tested positive for COVID-19, is “crucial” to protect themselves and to help stop the spread of the virus.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @JoeljWittnebel 

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