Increasing COVID-19 Cases Burdens Healthcare System

Michel Chebat

Minister Chebat says that people not adhering to the public health measures and the increasing COVID-19 cases are burdening the healthcare system.  As we’ve reported, the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital is operating in “Emergency Mode” as the institution is overwhelmed with COVID-19 hospitalizations. Minister Chebat also speaks to irresponsible activities causing the increase in numbers. 

Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness

“All of our hospitals have what we call surge areas and so depending from hospital to hospital, there is a limit on the amount of beds you have ranging from ten beds to thirty beds depending on where you are. But what happen is that when the hospitals become overburdened with COVID cases, then we have to stop giving the other services, the other medical services because the wards have to then be incorporated to attend to the patients who have COVID. And so again it is a burden on our health system. Take into account that our healthcare workers have been on this thing for the last eight nine months. They are at their wits’ end, they are exhausted. Our health system can only cope with so much and so, so much of this depends on us individually, our responsibility to observe the public health measures. We all must take it as a personal duty. When you look at Facebook, you see parties, you see boat cruises and partying at nights and when restaurants which are supposed to be restaurants convert into bar and you see big partying and that’s why you see the big numbers; this is why we are seeing an increase in numbers. I had said a couple weeks ago that our Central Lab detected that we have a variant or a couple variants in the country. We are still waiting for that to be properly identified. But because of the rapid increase in numbers, we know that there is a variant in the country and we know that the only way to stop this is by observing the public health measures and by getting vaccinated.”