Thirtythree people are now hospitalized with 11 in the ICU
Windsor Regional Hospital has set another record for inpatients being treated for COVID-19.
Chief of Staff Dr. Wassim Saad says 33 people have been admitted with 11 being treated in ICU units that are over capacity Sunday — the number of inpatients hit a new high last week with 28 that surpassed the previous peak of 27 from May.
Saad and the hospital's board are disappointed the province gave residents nearly three days of shopping and socializing before heading into Monday's lockdown.
He expects "super spreader events" to push admissions to new heights.
"With all this activity over the weekend I'm really concerned what we're going to see in our hospitals on week from now, two weeks from now, until the effects of the lockdown are felt and manifest in the hospital setting," he added.
The hospital announced it's running at 90 per cent capacity and cancelled elective surgeries to make more room last week.
"Depending on how the next few days go, we may have to put in more severe restrictions in terms of who gets an operation and who doesn't," says Saad.
He says the hospital wants to avoid a complete shutdown of non-emergency services.
"We recognize what kind of toll that took on the community and we're behind about 1,500 elective procedures as it is and never got a chance to catch up," he says. "We don't want to shut it down completely, but at the same time we have to be very careful and try to preserve our inpatient capacity."
Saad tells AM800 News the field hospital at St. Clair College is ready to go within an hours notice, but it can only be used for COVID-19 patients in the recovery phase of the virus that don't need acute care.