Sask. doctor worries about health system as Omicron numbers rise

Dr. Alexander Wong's been busier in the last two weeks than any other time in his career spanning more than 15 years.

Wong, an infectious disease physician at Regina General Hospital, has been caring for non-COVID patients recently with problems such as pneumonia or leg infections — patients whose conditions worsened because they couldn't access healthcare in a timely manner due to the pandemic. 

And now, with Saskatchewan approaching its peak of Omicron infections, it looks like the health-care system will be put under more strain. Wong warned staff and bed shortages will worsen. 

Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer, predicted on Tuesday that the province would reach its Omicron case peak in the next two to four weeks, with hospitalizations likely to climb until mid-February.

Rising case count

It's unknown how many cases he's expecting. The province hasn't shared modelling numbers since Dec. 21. At that point, they expected daily cases could rise to more than 300 per day by Jan. 20, with case numbers doubling every five days. On Wednesday, 1,233 cases were reported and that's with reduced testing, which doesn't include anyone testing positive on a rapid test alone, or people who are asymptomatic.

Wong said the province hasn't even begun to account for the highly contagious Omicron variant. 

"We're seeing those numbers start to rise very quickly now in terms of COVID specific admissions," Wong said.

Saskatchewan's COVID hospitalization numbers continued to climb on Wednesday. The province reported 10 more patients with the disease in hospital for a total of 199, with 21 of them in ICU. 

"I just don't know what kind of capacity we have at a system level, like in terms of the beds, as well as more importantly staff, to be able to look after all of these people," Wong said.

Royal University Hospital (RUH) and St. Paul's Hospital in Saskatoon combined were short about 40 beds this past weekend. 

Shelby Hatchen, a float nurse at RUH, said it's a problem.

"If you were going to get in a car accident today, heaven forbid, I have nowhere to put you," Hatchen said.

Derek Miller, interim chief operating officer at the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), said there's been a five per cent jump in staff absences. He said about 1,000 people, out of a staff of about 40,000, were away from work in the first week of January because they had COVID, or had to care for an infected child. 

Wong said these issues add up and that while health-care workers will continue to do their best to provide care, patient-staffing ratios will be compromised.

"It's going to crash kind of all at once, and it's going to be really, really challenging to manage," he said, adding that people should expect long delays in hospitals across the province. 

"If you end up getting into the emergency department, then it will take much, much longer to be seen. It'll take much, much longer for you to end up getting up onto a ward," Wong said.

"When you're on a ward, you might end up having to share a room with multiple people that might only be designed for a smaller number of people. You might be in a hallway."

Premier insists restrictions, lockdowns have 'no clear benefit'

Wong said government-imposed capacity and gathering restrictions could still help. 

However, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, Premier Scott Moe said once again that he did not think gathering and capacity restrictions have had an impact on the spread of the Omicron in other parts of Canada, including Quebec and Ontario.

Moe wrote Saskatchewan's "hospitalizations, ICU admissions and COVID-19 related deaths remain significantly lower than other provinces that have strict lockdown policies in effect."

Ontario and Quebec introduced a suite of new measures in late December and early January, including shutting down bars, gyms, and indoor dining in restaurants. Quebec also introduced a curfew, which was lifted on Monday.

However, Wong said if those provinces had taken Saskatchewan's approach, "their situation would probably be an order of magnitude worse."