Nova Scotia Health said Friday that QEII surgeries will be limited in the near future to day-to-day operations that do not require hospital stays, as well as time-sensitive and non-cancerous day-to-day surgeries that may require hospital stays. “We recognize that this is an incredibly difficult time for us [perioperative] “For our patients, however, after careful examination, it is a necessary step to ensure adequate inpatient bed capacity,” the health authority said in a press release. On Thursday, a Nova Scotia Health spokeswoman told CBC News that Omicron had an impact on staff and that hospitals had not yet recovered. Nova Scotia Health figures, published regularly since January, show an increase in the number of non-working staff due to COVID-19.
Hundreds of workers out of work
As of March 31, 786 employees were laid off because they tested positive, waited for test results, or were exposed to a member of their household with COVID-19. In the central health zone, where QEII is located, this total included 328 people. At the IWK Health Center in Halifax on March 28, 67 staff members were out of work with COVID-19 and 46 were out of isolation. Nova Scotia Health introduced changes Friday to allow some employees to return to work faster after a positive COVID-19 test and stay at work even if one member of their household tests positive. He said the changes were made in an effort to keep the system running while facing staff shortages.
