The Province of Ontario is confident it will be able to accommodate any surges in Covid-19 patients in the coming weeks.
Today Health Minister Christine Elliott said some hospitals have already chosen to increase capacity by renting hotel space or creating field hospitals.
The government is also watching for hot spots in parts of Ontario so that teams of health care workers can provide rapid response to those areas if needed.
Elliott says 2,800 ventilators have been delivered to hospitals recently and that plans are in the works to build another 10,000 respirators.
Also, as of today, the Province has reached its much-hoped-for 9,000 Covid-19 tests-per-day threshold.
Premier Doug Ford says Ontario is also on track to be accomplishing 14,000 of the tests per day by the end of the month.
Ford says Ontario will leave no stone unturned in its bid to test everyone who needs it.
This will now include testing done for priority groups which include women’s and homeless shelters, as well as the sick, elderly and newborns.
Ford says help has also arrived for hospitals too, with the addition of over 2,500 new acute and critical care beds, while another 4,200 will be in place by the end of April.
To read more about the Province’s plans for hospital expansion capacity, click here
These beds will help hospitals deal with any surges in pandemic cases that occur in the coming weeks.
We have added 1,035 acute care beds and 1,492 critical care beds in Ontario and taken steps to ensure hospitals have the staff available to care for a sudden surge in patients. Ontario will be prepared to respond to any #COVID19 outbreak scenario. https://t.co/rXf70RCEfz pic.twitter.com/X0hpRn17hr
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) April 16, 2020
Our focus is keeping everyone in Ontario safe and healthy. We will spare no expense. Today we announced what we are doing to continue to expand our hospital capacity during the #COVID19 pandemic. https://t.co/pQoLLt7j38 pic.twitter.com/9KZNpRfMch
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) April 16, 2020
Watch Ford and Elliott’s complete April 16th Address below.
https://www.facebook.com/FordNationDougFord/videos/278805923278130/