If you travel abroad, you may not be able to get home, warns Hamilton’s medical officer of health

News Mar 16, 2020 by Joanna Frketich The Hamilton Spectator

Hamilton's medical officer of health is strongly advising against international travel, warning you may not be able to get back home.

"There is a possibility you might end up locked down within a country or that there may not be travel arrangements for you to return, so you might be away much longer than you intend," said Dr. Elizabeth Richardson at a media conference Saturday at city hall.

If you get COVID-19 abroad, "Keep in mind that you might run into a health-care system that doesn't quite operate the same way that ours does," she said.

Her comments on the eve of March break came on the same day that federal Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne urged Canadians to return home while commercial flights are still available.

The federal government has put out an advisory to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada. It's recommending those who return from abroad self-isolate for 14 days.

The advisory has local hospitals worried about how many of their staff could be in self-isolation when all hands are needed on deck to respond to COVID-19.

"We suspect it will affect a large number of nurses and physicians," said Dr. David Russell, interim chief of staff at St. Joseph's Healthcare.

"You can't have this breach of the workforce continuity under these circumstances," he said. "If you have half the workforce, you are already beat."

Both St. Joseph's and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) are discouraging staff from leaving Canada and requiring them to report international travel before they leave and when they return.

But some were already out of the country when the advisories came out.

St. Joseph's has at least 25 staff it expects will be in self-isolation after returning from trips abroad.

"The whole issue of balancing risks is a very important one," Richardson said about medical staff in self-isolation.

"We do want to prevent this virus from spreading as much as we can and we want to slow down the spread as well. But at the same time we do know people are very sick with other things who need to have care and we need to consider those things."

She pointed out that the provincial government has expanded OHIP billing codes to allow doctors to provide more virtual care over the phone, email or video calls.

"We are looking at all methods of innovation to see what we can do," said Richardson.

If you travel abroad, you may not be able to get home, warns Hamilton’s medical officer of health

Those returning from international travel are asked to self-isolate for 14 days, which has local hospitals worried about how many doctors and nurses won’t be able to work

News Mar 16, 2020 by Joanna Frketich The Hamilton Spectator

Hamilton's medical officer of health is strongly advising against international travel, warning you may not be able to get back home.

"There is a possibility you might end up locked down within a country or that there may not be travel arrangements for you to return, so you might be away much longer than you intend," said Dr. Elizabeth Richardson at a media conference Saturday at city hall.

If you get COVID-19 abroad, "Keep in mind that you might run into a health-care system that doesn't quite operate the same way that ours does," she said.

Related Content

Her comments on the eve of March break came on the same day that federal Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne urged Canadians to return home while commercial flights are still available.

The federal government has put out an advisory to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada. It's recommending those who return from abroad self-isolate for 14 days.

The advisory has local hospitals worried about how many of their staff could be in self-isolation when all hands are needed on deck to respond to COVID-19.

"We suspect it will affect a large number of nurses and physicians," said Dr. David Russell, interim chief of staff at St. Joseph's Healthcare.

"You can't have this breach of the workforce continuity under these circumstances," he said. "If you have half the workforce, you are already beat."

Both St. Joseph's and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) are discouraging staff from leaving Canada and requiring them to report international travel before they leave and when they return.

But some were already out of the country when the advisories came out.

St. Joseph's has at least 25 staff it expects will be in self-isolation after returning from trips abroad.

"The whole issue of balancing risks is a very important one," Richardson said about medical staff in self-isolation.

"We do want to prevent this virus from spreading as much as we can and we want to slow down the spread as well. But at the same time we do know people are very sick with other things who need to have care and we need to consider those things."

She pointed out that the provincial government has expanded OHIP billing codes to allow doctors to provide more virtual care over the phone, email or video calls.

"We are looking at all methods of innovation to see what we can do," said Richardson.

If you travel abroad, you may not be able to get home, warns Hamilton’s medical officer of health

Those returning from international travel are asked to self-isolate for 14 days, which has local hospitals worried about how many doctors and nurses won’t be able to work

News Mar 16, 2020 by Joanna Frketich The Hamilton Spectator

Hamilton's medical officer of health is strongly advising against international travel, warning you may not be able to get back home.

"There is a possibility you might end up locked down within a country or that there may not be travel arrangements for you to return, so you might be away much longer than you intend," said Dr. Elizabeth Richardson at a media conference Saturday at city hall.

If you get COVID-19 abroad, "Keep in mind that you might run into a health-care system that doesn't quite operate the same way that ours does," she said.

Related Content

Her comments on the eve of March break came on the same day that federal Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne urged Canadians to return home while commercial flights are still available.

The federal government has put out an advisory to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada. It's recommending those who return from abroad self-isolate for 14 days.

The advisory has local hospitals worried about how many of their staff could be in self-isolation when all hands are needed on deck to respond to COVID-19.

"We suspect it will affect a large number of nurses and physicians," said Dr. David Russell, interim chief of staff at St. Joseph's Healthcare.

"You can't have this breach of the workforce continuity under these circumstances," he said. "If you have half the workforce, you are already beat."

Both St. Joseph's and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) are discouraging staff from leaving Canada and requiring them to report international travel before they leave and when they return.

But some were already out of the country when the advisories came out.

St. Joseph's has at least 25 staff it expects will be in self-isolation after returning from trips abroad.

"The whole issue of balancing risks is a very important one," Richardson said about medical staff in self-isolation.

"We do want to prevent this virus from spreading as much as we can and we want to slow down the spread as well. But at the same time we do know people are very sick with other things who need to have care and we need to consider those things."

She pointed out that the provincial government has expanded OHIP billing codes to allow doctors to provide more virtual care over the phone, email or video calls.

"We are looking at all methods of innovation to see what we can do," said Richardson.