Ontario adjusts emergency orders that were put in place at height of province's third wave
The Ontario government has tweaked two emergency orders that were put in place to increase healthcare capacity during the height of the province’s third wave while simultaneously permitting hospitals to conduct more elective surgeries and procedures.
In a memo sent to hospitals on Wednesday, Deputy Minister of Health Helen Angus announced that an April 28 amendment to an emergency order that permitted hospitals to move chronically ill hospital patients into long-term care homes and retirement homes without their consent is “no longer necessary” due to “some of the improvements to health system conditions that have been observed in recent days.”
The revoking of the amendment comes with the province never actually having had to transfer a patient to a long-term care or retirement home without their consent.
The initial emergency order, which allowed for hospital patients to be transferred to other hospitals without their consent, remains in place and Angus said in her memo that it will continue until at least June 16 due to the “persistently high ICU occupancy rates and the extreme operational pressures that many hospitals continue to face.”
Meanwhile, the province is also revoking another amendment to an existing emergency order which authorized Local Health Integration Networks and Ontario Health to redeploy their staff to long-term care homes and retirement homes.
Angus said that the initial emergency order allowing for the transfer of staff to hospitals remains in place.
The changes come as the province continues to see a decline in hospitalizations and ICU occupancy.
The Ministry of Health says that there are currently 729 patients with COVID-19 in Ontario hospitals, down from 1,925 at this time last month (May 3).
The number of patients in intensive care with COVID-19 has also been slowly declining since peaking at 900 last month and now stands at 546.
In light of the improving conditions, the province has also loosened its rules around elective surgeries and will now allow hospitals with adequate resources to conduct non-urgent procedures even when they require inpatient care.
The ministry had previously revoked a ban on non-urgent procedures back on May 19 but only in cases where they did not require overnight care.
Officials have estimated that Ontario surgical backlog now stands at more than 250,000 procedures due to the rationing of care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.