The leaders of the Chatham-Kent Ontario Health Team are appealing to the public for help to reduce the strain on the local healthcare system.
As of Wednesday, there are 14 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent, with half of the patients in the ICU, including two on ventilators.
According to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, ICU occupancy is currently at 70 per cent.
Meanwhile, local case counts have steadily increased over the past few weeks. On Wednesday, the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit reported 17 new cases and 11 resolved cases, bringing the active case count up to 146.
In a letter to residents, the Chatham-Kent Ontario Health Team (CKOHT) emphasizes that the local health care system is facing a major strain due to the rising cases in the community.
The health team is asking anyone who is feeling well to stay home and to contact their family doctor or nurse practitioner for any health concerns so that issues can be detected early.
"We know our residents are tired of the pandemic. Chatham-Kent health care workers are also tired and capacity and space are becoming increasingly limited," the letter read.
According to the CKOHT, Chatham-Kent EMS service call volume is up by 5 per cent, with an average of two COVID-19 positive patients being seen by EMA per day over the past week.
https://twitter.com/CK_OHT/status/1468577370105913359
Additionally, the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) recently put some stricter visitation policies in place at the local hospitals again in response to rising COVID-19 numbers.
New restrictions were also announced for the municipality this week by the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit including social gathering limits reduced from 25 people to ten. The new public health guidelines come into effect on Friday.
More details about the CKHA's updated visitor policy and public health restrictions can be found by clicking here.
