Mississauga’s COVID-19 cases are falling, but mayor still concerned about hospitalizations
Published November 5, 2021 at 12:02 pm
COVID-19 hospitalization numbers in Mississauga are still among the highest in Ontario, but Mayor Bonnie Crombie says overall case counts in the city are heading in the right direction.
Crombie said the latest numbers show there are 16 cases of the virus per 100,000 population in Mississauga, compared to 24 last week. In Peel, the number has dropped from 20 cases per 100,000 last week to 15 this week.
“This is great news, especially as we’ve seen the loosening of public health restrictions over the last few weeks. We continue to make huge strides in the battle against this virus,” Crombie told reporters at Mississauga’s weekly COVID-19 update, where she also noted that more than 84 per cent of Mississauga and Brampton residents eligible to receive the vaccine are now fully vaccinated.
“That’s nearly 1.2 million people in Peel fully vaccinated,” she continued. “And I urge those who are not yet fully vaccinated to get their shots.”
Mississauga, we continue to make huge strides in our fight against #COVID19.
Case counts are decreasing, at 16 cases per 100K, down from 25 last week.
Over 84% of residents 12+ (more than 1.2M ppl!) are doubly vaxxed.
Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to get vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/g0yPAclnuE
— Bonnie Crombie 🇨🇦 (@BonnieCrombie) November 4, 2021
Although relieved to see case count numbers on the decline, Crombie said she’s still troubled by the number of COVID-19 in-patients at Mississauga’s two hospitals and Queensway Health Centre on the border with Etobicoke. The three hospitals are run by Trillium Health Partners.
“While case counts are in a good place, we still have among the highest number of COVID hospitalizations in the entire province, with Trillium Health Partners (THP) dealing with 20 COVID-19 in-patients and two in ICU,” said Crombie, noting that, by comparison, Brampton hospitals have six in-patients and one in ICU.
The mayor said THP modelling predicts the hospitals will continue to see 20 to 30 COVID-19 in-patients at any time in the coming months, “and the only way to get this number down will be getting more people vaccinated.”
Crombie added she’s received responses to her social media posts asking why the hospital numbers are such a big deal when Mississauga has a population of nearly 800,000.
“Yes, we’re certainly in a much better position than we were in the spring, but these hospitalizations are largely preventable as the vast majority of these cases are in people who are unvaccinated,” she said. “These 22 cases put additional strain on our already overburdened hospital system. They take doctors and nurses away from other patients. So, this is actually a very big deal.”
Meanwhile, parents in Mississauga and beyond are waiting for vaccine approval for their children aged five to 11.
Crombie said as soon as Health Canada gives the green light to the children’s vaccine, Mississauga will be ready to go. Peel Public Health has significantly ramped up capacity to deliver more doses of the vaccine and there will be hundreds of locations across Peel to get the shots through fall and winter, she said.
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