6 COVID-19 deaths have taken place at Windsor Regional Hospital in the last 3 days

In the last 72 hours, Windsor Regional Hospital has had six COVID-19 deaths and admitted eight more patients into hospital with the disease.

At least one of the deaths is a person from outside of Windsor-Essex,hospital spokesperson Steve Erwin confirmed to CBC News. Another one to two, Erwin said, have not yet been reported by the local health unit.

In the last week, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) reported thattwo women in their 70s died after contracting the disease, along with 27-year-old Weng James.

As of Thursday, there was a total of 86 deaths for the region. WECHUalso confirmed104 new cases, bringing the total up to 610 active cases.

"The concern we've been echoing and commenting about is the status we're in now but also the status we're going to be in in approximately10-14 days from now because of the most recent positive results," Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) CEO David Musyj said Thursday.

During WRH'sboard meeting Thursday evening, Musyj said that the number of positive cases that will be announced Fridayis"high" and that he anticipates the numbers will continue to increase.

He also said there's a record 28 patients in hospital with COVID-19, nine of which are in the ICU.

The last time this number was that high was back in April or May, he said, with 27 patients in hospital.

"Twenty-eight, subject to people unfortunately passing away, in my opinion, is going to look like a low number in the next week," Musyj said.

WRHsaid it anticipates it will be getting a 10th ICU patient from a partner hospital. The most patients WRHsaw in the ICU during the course of the pandemic is 13, Musyj said.

WRH nurse Karen Riddell said they also have an additional 40 patients who they "highly suspect" have the disease and are being treated as such, though the hospital is awaiting more tests.

Ventilator capacity fluctuating

Thehospital, she added, is currently at 90 per cent capacity and only one ICU bed remains unoccupied at Met campus.

At WRH's Ouellette campus, itisover itsICU capacity with 22 people.

"That's unfortunately where we're at," shesaid. "It's increasing very rapidlyfrom a hospital perspective."

Riddelladded that in the last month they've also had to dip into their provincial ventilator stockpile to keep up.

"Over the last couple of days our volume of ventilated patients increased past our capacity of our own hospital ventilators so we had to use that [provincial] stockpile to get us through," she said, adding that they are now back to their own ventilator supply but that requiring more of the machines is "unusual."

"I've been in this role for three and a halfyears now and I think we've dipped into provincial stockpile twice since I've been in this role and both of those times have been in the last month."

Yet Musyj noted that these may not all be COVID-19 related as they are seeingan "influx volume" of sick patients, possiblyas a result of the pandemic, who ignored their health issues and are now severely ill, he said.

What about the field hospital?

As for the field hospital at St. Clair College, WRH chief of staff Dr. Wassim Saad said it's not an option for people that require active care as that site was always meant for people that were recovering from acute COVID-19 care and would soon be discharged home.

Saad said the space cannot accommodate patients that requirebloodwork, X-rays orultrasounds.

"I think the general public may not understand what the use of this field hospital is. They think it's an extension of the acute care hospital," he said.

"It's a fantastic facility and it's amazing that we can deliver oxygen and most of the medications but if somebody is slightly sicker than that and requires those regular investigations, they're not appropriate for the field hospital and that's why we can't use it the way most people in the community think we can use it."

Musyj said over the next day or so the hospital will review its pandemic plan and determine next steps to brace against the rising numbers.

"There's a light at the end of the tunnel," Musyj toldmedia in a virtual scrum following the meeting.

"Right today, it looks like an oncoming train but right behind that oncoming train there'sa ray of sunshine. We gotta get to that ray of sunshine ...and that's what we're trying to do right now is avoid that oncoming train."