Shomporko Desk:-Premier Doug Ford opened the door Wednesday to systemic changes to Ontario’s long-term care system, where a significant portion of the province’s COVID-19 deaths has been recorded.
“There are cracks,” Ford said after announcing additional testing and infection control measures. “We have to raise the standards…This is a wake-up call to the world, not just Ontario.”In the meantime, Ontario has issued an emergency order preventing long-term care staff from working at multiple homes. The province has acknowledged that some outbreaks in those facilities were the result of staff who work in two or three homes inadvertently bringing in the virus.
Though the government described it as a 14-day order, it takes effect on April 22 and is only in place for six days. The government said it will likely be extended, as with its other emergency orders. Long-Term Care Minister Merrillee Fullerton said it is an interim solution, and that Ontario will work with the federal government to address wages for those workers while they are prevented from working at more than one home.
