RSV, flu surge beyond pre pandemic numbers in Nunavut amid health care staff crunch – National | 24CA News
Nunavut well being officers say there was a surge of respiratory diseases throughout the territory this yr.
Dr. Sean Watchel, the territory’s chief public well being officer, says instances of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, together with the flu and COVID-19 have elevated dramatically.
“That’s reflected across the country, that increase from opening up after the pandemic restrictions,” he stated throughout a press convention Thursday.
Nunavut lifted all COVID-19 public well being restrictions in April.
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Before the pandemic, in 2018-19, there have been 142 instances of RSV in Nunavut. That dropped to 58 instances in 2019-20 and simply two in 2020-21.
Watchel stated there have been 493 RSV infections and 86 hospitalizations up to now this yr.
COVID-19 infections are additionally within the rise within the territory. Watchel stated there have been 269 instances and 4 hospitalizations in 2020, 598 instances and 9 hospitalizations in 2021, and three,155 recognized infections and 84 hospitalizations in 2022.
A complete of 10 deaths attributed to COVID-19 have been reported within the territory since 2020.
Watchel stated flu instances in Nunavut this yr have practically tripled pre-pandemic ranges. There had been 212 instances in 2019, 145 in 2020, 13 in 2021, and 635 this yr up to now.
The rising variety of respiratory diseases in Nunavut displays a nationwide pattern as many hospitals and clinics throughout Canada have reported an rising variety of sufferers, notably youngsters.
Dr. Francois de Wet, territorial chief of workers for Nunavut’s Department of Health, stated the rise in instances in Nunavut has put stress on the territory’s medevac system.
“We’ve had a large uptick in the amount of medevacs that we’ve had over the last couple of months,” he stated, including all the territory’s southern companions are at present accepting Nunavut sufferers.
“The big thing for us, as long as we have accepting providers and accepting facilities in the South, we are able to get those patients out.”
Coupled with the rise in infections, Nunavut is grappling with a scarcity of health-care workers, resulting in diminished and suspended well being providers throughout the territory.
The territory’s Department of Health stated Thursday it’s anticipating well being centres in Chesterfield Inlet, Clyde River and Kinngait to briefly shut within the coming weeks. Several different well being centres have additionally confronted closures this yr resulting from workers shortages.
The division stated it has developed contingency plans to permit for pressing well being providers in affected communities utilizing a mix of digital well being, fly-in clinics and paramedic providers. It stated additionally it is “aggressively pursuing recruitment efforts.”
“From a staffing perspective, our system across Nunavut is fragile right now,” Health Minister John Main stated. “And things are also fragile in the south and the word crisis is being used quite often.”
© 2022 The Canadian Press
