P.A. Doctor Outlines Nightmare H1N1 Scenario

P.A. Doctor Outlines Nightmare H1N1 Scenario

Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 12:17

A medical health officer in Prince Albert has released some startling predictions for the H1N1 flu virus.

Dr. Khami Chokani says he expects the second wave of the virus to strike within the next few months.

He warns that the dry air in the Prince Albert area could be fertile ground for the virus to replicate itself.

And he says that in the worst case scenario, as many as 18 people within the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region could die every week, over a 10-week span.

“If we have the H1N1 behaving in the way that we anticipate it will behave, we’re looking at 300,000 people (in Saskatchewan) being ill at home, with around 160,000 (of those) people requiring to go to the hospital or to see their family physician. … Out of the 6,000 who need hospital beds, you’re looking at 443 who will not make it,” Chokani says.

Meantime, Chokani says preparations are being made to turn SIAST into a 200-bed treatment facility, if the hospital is overwhelmed.