An employee at Brampton Civic has passed away from COVID-19 at the hospital where he worked

An environmental services worker at Brampton’s only full service hospital has passed away from COVID-19.

The man, who was in his late-50’s, died at Brampton Civic Hospital Thursday morning, according to a press release from Peel Public Health. The release also states the man “likely” acquired the virus from community transmission and not at work, based on an investigation that was conducted. It’s unclear how local public health officials made this determination. 

According to William Osler's medical director of critical care, Dr. Brooks Fallis who spoke to The Pointer, the man was admitted to hospital where he also worked on March 27 and from the emergency department was transferred directly to the ICU where he remained until his death.

It’s unclear if he could have possibly been infected with the virus through his job at the hospital. According to William Osler’s most updated numbers Thursday, the health system that runs Brampton Civic is currently treating 34 COVID-19 patients in its two full-service hospitals, Civic and Etobicoke General, 20 of them at Civic. 

Environmental services workers are commonly described in Canadian hospitals as responsible for sanitation and cleaning all areas of the facility, including patient rooms. 

“Every loss of life to COVID-19 is tragic. On behalf of the Region of Peel, I extend our deepest condolences to his family both at home and at work,” Dr. Lawrence Loh, Interim Medical Officer of Health for the Region of Peel, said in the press release. “He played an important role in keeping the health care system working and we mourn his loss.” 

On Thursday morning, Peel Region reported 10 deaths due to the novel coronavirus as cases here continue to surge. Thursday saw 102 new confirmed cases in the region, bringing the total number to 786.

The increase in cases comes on the same day Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released modeling at the federal level illustrating how many Canadians will be impacted by COVID-19. There are currently 18,447 confirmed cases in Canada and 401 deaths. According to the federal model, cases are projected to rise to 22,580 by April 16, and 500 deaths.

“Our health-care systems across the country are coping for the time being, but we’re at a fork in the road between the best and the worst possible outcomes. The best possible outcome is no easy path for any of us,” Trudeau said during the press conference. 

Last week, the province released its own projection, which predicted 80,000 deaths could be seen by April 30 if stricter physical distancing measures were not implemented. If they were, the number of confirmed cases could drop to 12,500. A day after the shocking projections, approximately 30 more business categories were forced to shut down as part of enhanced isolation measures. 

In Toronto, 12 physicians, 13 nurses and 6 other healthcare workers have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. Frontline healthcare workers are at risk of contracting the virus as they come into close contact with patients who have or may have the virus. One of the only lines of defence that’s open to them is personal protective equipment (PPE). But the threat of these supplies running low is a constant dark cloud that frequently looms over the topic. 

On Monday, Premier Doug Ford proclaimed the province could run out of PPE in a week if more supplies were not secured. “This is always on my mind, I don’t sleep at night thinking about these PPEs,” Ford said. 

The next day, Ford toured Woodbridge Group in Vaughan. The company is producing thousands of respiratory masks to be used across Ontario. Before his Tuesday press conference, Ford picked up the first batch of masks from the organization. “These masks will be made here in the millions. My friends, this is what the workshop of Canada looks like. Once we get Ontario’s manufacturer powerhouse going, it’s a machine that can’t be stopped,” Ford said.

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