We are being assured by Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott that the province won’t likely need to resort to a triage protocol which could have resulted in some of the oldest and sickest patients not receiving the highest level of care.

“That is something that has not been activated in Ontario, and fortunately, what the medical experts are saying, it appears we won’t need to, which is very good news for everyone,” Elliott explained on Tuesday.

The number of patients with COVID-19 in the province’s hospital intensive care units was at 886 on Tuesday, but the number has been flat for the better part of a week.

Elliott says while intensive care numbers are lagging indicators, to some extent they provide a glimmer of hope that overwhelmed hospitals could eventually get some relief.

The triage protocol states that patients who are expected to live 12 months or longer after treatment should be given the greatest amount of care and attention in scenarios where health-care resources are exhausted.