Are hospitals using too many masks?
Amid global shortages of face masks and protective suits, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health is concerned that some Ontario hospitals are going through special protective equipment too quickly — “and we are asking why.”
The concern comes in the midst of an expanding international novel coronavirus outbreak. So far, Ontario has confirmed three cases among people who were in Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Dr. David Williams said he has heard of some health-care providers wearing specialized N95 masks in surgery rather than appropriate surgical masks.
N95 masks are part of the province’s personal protective equipment stockpile. They are used by health workers to protect them from new or dangerous infectious diseases, such as coronavirus.
Williams said he doesn’t believe the practice is widespread, but any misuse of the equipment would be worrisome.
Public Health Ontario has sent out memos reminding health care institutions and medical staff that personal protective equipment supplies should be used “in the right way, by the right people, at the right time.”
This week, the World Health Organization warned of global shortages of masks and protective equipment.
Williams said Ontario has stockpiles of supplies but, given the outbreak and world shortages, “you want to make sure you build up capacity and use it carefully.”
Although Ontario has only seen three cases — two of them mild — it is prepared for a broader outbreak, he said.
“We have been preparing since the SARS outbreak in 2003 when we started doing pandemic planning.”
Among changes that have taken place since then, he said, are a better connection between the public health and health systems, a greater focus on infection control with better infrastructure to prevent the spread of infection and training.
Williams said he is not concerned about capacity in the system if Ontario needs to deal with a bigger outbreak, noting that of three provincial cases, only one has been in hospital for any period of time.
Ontario could potentially see more cases as more than 176 Canadians evacuated from Wuhan are now quarantined and being closely monitored in CFB Trenton.
Among them are Kai Huang of Ottawa and his mother Yi Huang. His wife, Bingli Liu, said they were on the U.S. flight that got them to Trenton after the main Canadian charter.
She said her husband texted her when they arrived in Vancouver. “I am really pleased they are here.”
Meanwhile, an Ottawa woman who was a passenger aboard a cruise ship that is now quarantined off Yokohama, Japan, said she remains concerned that she could have caught coronavirus on the ship. She said she plans to “limit my world” for a while on the off-chance that she is carrying the virus.
The woman was aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in January for 14 days. Some people stayed on for a full 28 days. Those people are now quarantined for 14 days and 61 passengers have tested positive for coronavirus.
She said she is concerned that some of the people who have coronavirus were on board the cruise at the same time she was.
The woman, who also visited Beijing on her trip, returned home feeling ill, with cold symptoms, but was only asked whether she had visited Wuhan, which she had not.
When she called Ottawa Public Health this week, she was told if she didn’t have a fever and was feeling better she probably didn’t have coronavirus. The woman said someone from public health called back to check on how she was doing. She said she wants to know whether any cruise passengers now diagnosed with coronavirus were also on her cruise. If that is the case, she said, she would ask to be tested.
A spokesperson for Ottawa Public Health would not discuss individual cases, but individuals who meet the case definition are referred to the communicable disease program for follow-up. Sometimes other cases are also followed up.
“There are scenarios when someone does not meet the case definitions where we may still conduct followup as the situation and risk areas are evolving.”
Novel coronavirus can cause very mild to severe illness, including fever, cough and other upper respiratory tract infection symptoms, including shortness of breath. In mild cases, symptoms can be like a cold.