Doctors prepare for COVID-19 community spread

A team of doctors in Chéticamp’s Sacred Heart Community Health Centre are sounding the alarm about the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia. As the number of cases reaches 110 across the province, with 20 new ones overnight, hospital staff said they have been preparing for the possibility of an outbreak in the region.

Dr. Robert Strang, Chief Medical Officer of Health, has confirmed a first case of community spread in the province. Chéticamp’s Dr. Michel Chiasson believes the case represents a tipping point in the pandemic. “We don’t know where this individual contracted the virus and it’s now getting out into the community. That is concerning because once that happens, the potential for our healthcare system to be overwhelmed is there.”

The Sacred Heart Community Health Centre serves about 10 000 people, and Dr. Chiasson said that specialists are expecting an infection rate of about 30%. “That means 3 000 people are going to be infected,” he said. “Of the people who are infected, about 10% get so sick that they have to come into hospital. That’s 300 people. … Our hospital has 10 regular beds, we have a few outpatient beds, we have a call room.”

The provincial Department of Health has prepared a unit in the Cape Breton Regional Hospital (CBRH) for COVID-19 patients. People who test positive to the virus would not be treated at the local hospital but be transported to CBRH in Sydney - about 2 hours away from Chéticamp. 

“In a week or two weeks, that unit may be full,” Dr. Chiasson said, “If that unit is full, we can’t send anybody out. So, they’re going to stay here in Chéticamp. We’ll try to care for them the best that we can. We’re in uncharted waters. Are we going to put two people in one bed?  Are we going to have a call out for mattresses and put people on the floor? That’s a potential scenario if we get 3 000 people infected and 10% of them get so sick that they need hospital care. We only have so much oxygen and tubing and masks and things like that. So, the potential is that people would maybe have no care given to them. Again, that is why the physicians in Chéticamp are saying to people that they need to understand that for 2, 3, 6, 8, 10 weeks, we need to have strict isolation.”

In his second extended interview with CHNE, Dr. Chiasson impresses the importance of respecting safety recommendations provided by the province.