Bluewater Health has the most COVID-19 patients it has ever had since the pandemic began.

That’s according to the hospital’s Chief of Medicine, Dr. Mike Haddad. He’s been using social media to explain what’s happening at the local hospital during the Omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, Lambton Public Health is reporting another death – the 10th in 11 days in Lambton alone. And there are two more outbreaks being reported. Public health doesn’t reveal where the outbreaks are on weekends, however eight long term care homes were in outbreak already by Friday. At the time at least 65 residents and health care workers were listed as COVID-19 positive.

Long term care homes, hospitals and community living homes are among the few places in the province where outbreaks will be declared because the government has eliminated PCR testing saying with Omicron it is a “luxury.”

In Lambton, 1,434 are ill with COVID-19 now – 139 more than Saturday.

Officials say that is only an estimate and that the number of cases is more likely four to five times higher.

Instead, health care professionals are watching hospital admissions to track the progression of the virus. In Sarnia, Dr. Haddad says there are now 34 people in hospital who are COVID-19 positive. Ten of the people in the hospitals 14 ICU beds have COVID and 104 per cent of the medical beds are occupied.

Haddad says 90 per cent of the people in ICU have not been vaccinated.

“This is the highest daily hospitalized due to COVID at our local hospital since March 2020 at Bluewater Health; hope we get over this wave soon,” says Haddad.

Across Ontario today, there are 2,419 reported to be in hospitals across the province, although not every hospital reports on the weekend. There were 412 people in ICUs with COVID-19 up from 388 yesterday.