ICU doctor cautiously optimistic about looming impact of 4th COVID-19 wave in Manitoba

A Manitoba critical care doctor and infectious diseases specialist remains cautiously optimistic when it comes to the impact of the fourth wave in Manitoba.

A Manitoba critical care doctor and infectious diseases specialist remains cautiously optimistic when it comes to the impact of the fourth wave in Manitoba.

It comes as Alberta and Saskatchewan deal with a surge in cases and capacity issues in hospitals.

Dr. Anand Kumar points to Manitoba’s move earlier this summer to reintroduce mask mandates and proof of vaccination requirements and the percentage of eligible Manitobans who are fully vaccinated but he said we’re not out of the woods yet.

“I think we are going to see an increase in activity but my hope is that it will be sufficiently blunted,” he said. “That we don’t see the kind of overwhelming hospital strain and ICU strain that they’re seeing in Alberta and Saskatchewan and that we saw, frankly, back in May and June.”

During the third wave Manitoba’s health system was so overwhelmed, 57 patients requiring critical care had to be sent to either Ontario, Saskatchewan or Alberta.

Now, Saskatchewan and Alberta are dealing with a spike in hospitalizations and not enough beds to care for patients who are mostly unvaccinated.

Kumar said as a health-care provider he’d like to be able to help those two provinces in their time of crisis.