'The system is overwhelmed': Hospitalizations in Manitoba surging amid spread of COVID-19 omicron variant

The number of people hospitalized in Manitoba after getting COVID-19 continues to rise amid the surge of the highly contagious omicron variant.

More than 400 people are now receiving care after an infection, making it more difficult for frontline health professionals to treat people seeking both COVID and non-COVID care.

“It’s basically a snowball effect,” said Dr. Doug Eyolfson, an emergency and urgent care physician and former Liberal MP.

He said the number of people who’ve ended up in hospital after contracting COVID-19 is leading to longer waits in ERs.

“It takes longer for patients in emergency to get admitted,” said Eyolfson. “There are often a number of patients in emergency that are actually admitted to hospital, they’re waiting for hospital beds or sometimes they’re critically ill patients that actually need ICU.”

Intensive care units are also taking in more patients: 42 people who’ve contracted COVID-19 are currently in Manitoba ICUs, up three from Monday. As of midnight, there were a total of 96 ICU patients receiving both COVID and non-COVID care. Normal pre-COVID baseline capacity is 72 patients but there are currently 114 staffed beds supporting critical care across the province, according to Shared Health.

A total of 418 people are currently hospitalized after getting COVID-19, an increase of 40 patients since Monday.

Dr. Philippe Lagacé-Wiens, a medical microbiologist at St. Boniface Hospital, finds the numbers concerning.

“While we’re sort of hoping the vaccine status of people in general are keeping them out of the ICU, we’re still seeing a very significant crunch in the hospital,” said Lagacé-Wiens. “So it’s really a hospital bed problem which in turn, of course, means it’s a hospital staff problem.”

When comparing the number of active cases per 100,000 people, Manitoba is now leading all other provinces and territories with more than 2,200 infections, but officials have said the number of actual cases is actually much higher due to limitations on testing capacity.

Lagacé-Wiens said the growing number of hospitalizations is affecting care at all levels.

“We’re getting to the point where your knee replacement is going to have to go the back burner, or your cataract surgery or other surgeries are going to have to go to the back burner,” he said. “They’re no less essential but they need to take the back burner because the system is overwhelmed. It is a form of triage. I don’t want to mince my words.”

In a statement to CTV News Winnipeg, a spokesperson for Shared Health said Manitoba is seeing a heightened number of hospitalizations due to omicron and that work to support current and anticipated levels of hospitalization and illnesses among staff is continuing.

Dr. Denis Fortier, chief medical officer for Southern Health-Santé Sud, said Tuesday the number of hospitalizations in the region has been fluctuating between 40 and 50 patients which is still largely due to the delta variant. But Fortier said there’s been a recent shift in the dominant strain in the region in the southeastern part of the province.

“That has changed over the weekend where the predominant virus is now omicron,” said Fortier.

Fortier is worried about the impact omicron will have on people in the region and the health care system given vaccination rates remain well below the provincial average in some communities.

“Major concern about the vaccination rates and how that may impact the severity of the illness and the amount of hospitalization,” he said.

While people who are vaccinated can still get infected, Eyolfson said most who catch omicron aren’t getting as sick as unvaccinated patients. He said if someone who’s vaccinated does end up in an ICU they’re more likely to survive.