STAFFING CHALLENGES FROM SURGING COVID19 CASES AFFECTING CANADA'S PUBLIC SERVICES.

By Chandrayee Roy Choudhury, Canada: Public sectors across the country are facing staff shortages as Canada continues to face record-breaking COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations related to the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube said Thursday that about 20,000 health-care workers were off because they had tested positive or been exposed to the virus. The government was working with unions to find more staff to care for roughly 2,500 COVID-19 patients.
In the Atlantic region, New Brunswick’s hospitals were struggling to provide appropriate and timely care amid rising COVID-19 infections and a high number of health staff who can’t work because of the virus.
The province’s health department said in a statement Thursday that hundreds of workers were isolating at home. Earlier this week, the government issued an official number of 571.

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