The COVID-19 situation at Boundary Trails Health Centre has stabilized overall, according to special care unit lead, Dr. Ganesan Abbu.

As of Monday morning, Dr. Abbu reported zero COVID-19 patients in the facility's intensive care unit. "That's something new," he said, noting for the last two weeks there have been two or three patients on high-flow oxygen. "Yesterday (Monday) morning, for the first twenty-four hour period, we did not have that."

As of Tuesday morning, there were 21 cases of COVID-19 admitted to the facility between Winkler and Morden; 15 of which are acute, 6 recovering and about 3 suspected cases.

When it comes to transferring COVID-19 patients from BTHC to intensive care units in Winnipeg, Dr. Abbu says those numbers have also changed compared to two weekends ago when the facility transferred 6 patients between that Friday afternoon and Monday morning, accounting for about 20 per cent of all ICU admissions in Manitoba over those three days.

"We've had on average, one transfer a day. So, that's still not a good number but better than what it was," said Dr. Abbu. "I think overall, I interpret that to be a good sign but it's very difficult to predict. I'm hoping we've seen the worst of this."

The number of patients coming through the emergency room at BTHC is slightly down, but Dr. Abbu says it is also hard to predict how many of those will become acutely ill.

These changes, however small they may be, come as a slight sigh of relief for staff at the hospital who have been facing physical and emotional pressures trying to keep up with the influx in COVID-19 patients being admitted these last number of weeks. In particular, noted Dr. Abbu, the hospital's respiratory therapist who plays a "huge role" in effecting all of the ventilation requirements and patient transfers. "He has worked eighty to ninety hours a week in the last two weeks."

In terms of other staffing, Dr. Abbu says a nursing shortage remains and continues to be mitigated by a shutdown of two of the hospital's regular operating rooms and shifting staff to the more critical areas. "That's unchanged, but we hope by the end of the month we will re-open the O-Rs and go back to somewhat normal procedure, I hope."

Meantime, Dr Abbu says they are noticing an increasing number of long-stay, for a month or longer, of COVID-19 patients at the facility. As well, he noted all of the six recovering patients currently admitted to the hospital are on a course where they may need oxygen on a long-term basis.

"That is a bit concerning. We'll have to see how those numbers pan out with time, but these are some of the consequences we have to face going forward," he said.

This week, BTHC is launching a virtual COVID-19 outpatient program in an attempt, according to Dr. Abbu, to send patients home who are likely on the downward end of the virus, with oxygen, in order to clear up beds in the hospital. Patients who would normally remain in hospital for another seven to ten days would be sent home with a wireless oxygen saturation monitor, a thermometer and an iPad if they don't already own one.

"It's very stringent criteria that is applied because we don't want to be unsafe in what we do," he explained. "At this time, we haven't had any patients (in the program) because of the strict criteria - teaching them how to manage oxygen at home, they need a stable Internet connect, they're going to be called twice a day by nurse and a respiratory doctor. It's a complex program and we have to select the right patients."

Dr. Abbu hopes to have some patients enrolled in the program by the end of the week.