COVID positive patients from the GTA are being transferred to a local hospital.
Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance has accepted two patients at its Stratford ICU site and expect more.
CEO Andrew Williams says the hospital is redeploying staff to support the influx of patients.
"We have been given approval to open three additional Intensive Care Unit beds and the way we're able to do that is by reducing the scheduled work in the OR and redeploying staff into our Intensive Care Unit," said Andrew Williams, CEO of the HPHA.
Meanwhile, vaccination rates in Huron and Perth are slightly ahead of the provincial average when it comes to first doses being administered.
"Everyone who wants to be vaccinated will eventually have the opportunity to be vaccinated," said Dr. Klassen, Medical Officer of Health for Huron and Perth. "We never did anticipate or think that enough vaccine would be shipped to Huron and Perth to finish everyone in a month, this has always been envisioned as something that would take several months."
Just over 14% of Ontarians have received a first dose, and in Huron and Perth the rate is just over 16%.
Clinics announced earlier this week for residents 55 and over to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine in either Goderich or Stratford were fully booked within six hours.