Low oxygen supply forces Toronto hospital to transfer COVID-19 patients

A Toronto hospital says it transferred a number of COVID-19 patients and cancelled some surgeries today after its supply of oxygen ran low.

A vice-president at Michael Garron Hospital says staff identified the risk early today because of a high volume of patients with the virus requiring oxygen.

Mark Fam says the hospital reached out to other facilities and transferred 10 patients while it brought on additional temporary oxygen capacity.

He says the hospital also cancelled seven surgeries and diverted some ambulances to reduce oxygen demand.

Ontario’s hospitals continue to deal with record-high admissions and patient numbers in intensive care during the third wave of the pandemic.