COVID-19 forces Montfort Hospital to delay some non-urgent procedures due to lack of staff

Montfort Hospital is postponing some non-urgent procedures starting on Tuesday because of thenumber of staff having to stay home because of COVID-19.

In a news release issued Thursday, the hospital said 89 staff were in isolation.

"As you can imagine, this makes the work of our teams very difficult," the release said.

"Due to the rapid increase in cases of COVID-19, we have to postpone some non-emergent and non-urgent activities."

The hospital said staff are reviewing which procedures can go ahead on a case-by-case basis.

People will be contacted by phone by someone from the hospital if their treatment is being rescheduled.

On Wednesday, Ottawa's coronavirus wastewater signal data showed signs of slowing its rise, but it was still going up.

Dr. Vera Etches, the city's medical officer of health, said that with the amount of COVID-19 in the wastewater and the community in general people should hold Easter gatherings outdoors.

Other hospitals in the region have also been struggling with staffing as the 6th wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hits Ontario.