Non-urgent surgeries on hold at Thunder Bay hospital as COVID-19 patient count grows

The Thunder Bay regional hospital is reopening its dedicated COVID-19 unit and pausing non-urgent surgeries as the number of patients admitted to the facility who have tested positive for the virus is in double digits.

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre officials said there are 15 patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, with two of them in the intensive care unit.

The hospital is pausing non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures.

The 3B unit of the hospital will become the COVID-19 care unit.

Hospital officials say the facility is nearing its capacity limits — the medical and surgical units are 91 per cent full, while intensive care occupancy is 77 per cent. 

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit announced 58 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.

The active case count dropped to 276.

The Northwestern Health Unit reported 49 new cases, with 30 of those in the Kenora health hub area and 13 in the Fort Frances health hub. Other cases were confirmed in the Emo, Atikokan and Sioux Lookout areas.

There are 438 known active cases in the Northwestern Health Unit catchment area.