South Etobicoke residents are being warned to stay away from Mississauga’s Trillium Health Partners Network after 36 staff at three of its sites are in self-isolation after testing positive for COVID-19.

Many area residents are urged to attend Toronto hospitals for treatment rather than making a quick trip for now to hospitals in the Mississauga area. Many area residents attend Mississauga hospitals to avoid driving downtown for medical help.

The network in a statement said the three dozen affected employees have been off from work since December 8 after they tested positive for the virus.

The cases are linked to both hospital and community transmission, officials said.

“All contact tracing has been conducted and infection prevention and control measures are in place to ensure our hospital remains a safe place to receive care,” the network stated.

Officials said four units at Credit Valley Hospital and Mississauga Hospital are dealing with an outbreak.

Trillium Health Partners (THP) has two sites in Mississauga, including Credit Valley Hospital and Mississauga Hospital. Its third site, Queensway Health Centre, is across from Sherway Gardens.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said she is concerned about the situation in the hospitals as it is not getting any better.

“Trillium Health Partners is currently well above capacity and is dealing with 88 COVID patients, 20 patients in the ICU and a great number of patients awaiting their results,” Crombie said.

She noted that patients are being transferred to other hospitals and some elective surgeries are in danger of being cancelled.

“I’ve been told that the next three to six weeks will be extremely challenging for our hospitals as they continue to deal with the surge of COVID patients,” Crombie noted.

Peel region is under the province’s lockdown zone and has been for the past 17 days. No indoor gatherings are permitted unless people are members of the same household, with some exceptions, including support for seniors living alone.

Peel region last week reported an average of 459 daily cases, with Mississauga averaging 152 daily cases.

Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel Region’s medical officer of health, said cases continue to rise and still heading in the wrong direction.

“We are not yet seeing a plateau or a decrease,” Loh said. “And if we remember how the first wave in the spring worked, we don’t start going down right away.”

Although a vaccine has been approved in Canada, the doctor said residents must stay the course with wearing masks, hand washing and physical distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19.