Manitoba's new COVID strategy ignores vulnerable people, hospital systems, say scientists
CBC
Some scientists and health-care professionals say Manitoba's new plan for handling COVID-19 ignores vulnerable people and hospital systems.
"I think we are unprepared from the health care side for the tsunami of admissions and hospital demands that are going to occur if we just kind of let it go," said Dr. Philippe Lagacé-Wiens, a medical microbiologist at St. Boniface Hospital.
"There's still enough people who are frail and will develop complications, or who are unimmunized that will really flood the health-care system. And nothing I have heard so far is satisfying my concerns about the capacity of the health-care system."
On Wednesday, Premier Heather Stefanson announced the province is changing its COVID-19 strategy. Instead of trying to contain the surge caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant, public health and provincial officials will try to manage risk in the community.
"Every single Manitoban has to take it upon themselves to protect themselves during this," said Stefanson.
"The government can't protect everybody out there. You know, people have to learn to protect themselves. We have to learn to live with it."
Stefanson also said Manitoba's policies aren't being driven solely by public health, but also by other people, like those in the business community.
Lagacé-Wiens said if the province is going to use that approach, officials need to be prepared for the consequences and have a clear plan to support the health-care system as more patients come in.
"How are we going to create hundreds more hospital beds with limited staff who are away sick? How are we going to manage ICU beds should they become overwhelmed again while the rest of Canada is in the same crunch as we are?" he said.
"I'm not hearing a lot of that. That's really concerning to me when on the other side, they're saying, 'Well, we just have to let this run its course.'"
The strategy to move away from trying to contain the virus shows the province is almost "conceding" to COVID-19, according to Nazeem Muhajarine, professor of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan's college of medicine.
"You're not waving the white flag yet, but it seems like we are reaching for it," he said.
Muhajarine said Manitoba could take a hint from provinces like Ontario and Quebec that have taken more "aggressive and proactive" measures to try and keep Omicron at bay — including stricter public health measures.
He said efforts to keep cases low are still needed to protect people who can't get vaccinated, and to ease the workload on health-care workers.
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