Source: CTV
This morning, new restrictions on “paid sick leave” go into effect in Ontario. According to Dr. Naheed Dosani, the new rules do not address the concerns raised by healthcare workers. “When we advocate for sick days, we’re not playing political games,” he said.
Officials are attempting to reverse some of the rules that have received the most criticism. The new restrictions include a provincial border closure as well as a two-week extension of the stay-at-home order. “We’re advocating for people because we care about them, because we’re health workers in the midst of a pandemic,” Dosani explained. Officials clarified on Saturday that officers would only stop people outside if they had reason to believe they were on their way to an organized event or social gathering.
More than 8,500 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Ontario over the weekend. Doctors working in intensive care units have stated that the patients they see are frequently essential workers from marginalized communities. As the health-care system becomes overburdened, we may lose access to the type of care that we’ve come to expect in Ontario, he says.
“We’ve reached a tipping point in our hospital and ICU systems,” Dosani explained. According to Dosani, “it will literally come to a point where there will be one ventilator and two patients, and a team of health workers will have to decide who gets the ventilator over the other.” “This is a serious situation,” he said, and “the worst part is that it could have all been avoided.
