BRAUN: Ontario must fix dire shortages of protective equipment
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Ontario must prepare immediately for a coronavirus worst-case scenario and equip frontline health workers accordingly.
Doris Grinspun, head of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), said Sunday that time is running out and the need to get protective gear to health-care workers is now.
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Face masks, gowns, gloves and hand sanitizers are all in short supply and workers must have this personal protective equipment (PPE) to face the coming tsunami of pandemic patients.
Noting the disastrous situation unfolding now in New York City, Grinspun said the province is not preparing frontline health workers properly for what is coming.
“The amount of PPE ordered may seem huge to the public,” said Grinspun, “but it’s not nearly as much as is needed if we fall into a worst-case scenario, like other countries.”
Grinspun sounded desperate as she described nurses at Mount Sinai West hospital in New York wearing plastic garbage bags as protective gowns.
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“People need to listen now, before it’s too late. Then there’s no going back.”
Grinspun noted 1 billion masks were ordered in France, where 40 million masks a week are being used by health-care workers. Translated to Ontario numbers by population means we need 217 million face masks.
“We are begging officials to fast-track procurement and testing and to scale up to worst-case scenario figures. I am certain the government will want to avoid such a scenario, and I have to make sure we do avoid it.”
Added Grinspun: “The current procurement of the Ontario government will last roughly a bit longer than a week. This is the last chance to get the PPE that’s needed. I am pleading with the government to change the parameters of procurement to worst-case scenario.”
There is nothing to suggest Ontario will be spared that “worst-case” scenario.
The interventions known to halt the spread of coronavirus (in Singapore, for example) — such as mass testing, isolation of those who test positive and scrupulous contact tracing — are not being done here.
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And some in Ontario are not listening to the most basic instructions. Despite rising numbers of cases in Toronto, for example, people used off-leash dog parks and playground equipment in parks over the weekend, despite these both being off-limits during the pandemic. The areas have now had to be physically locked down.
An obviously exasperated Mayor John Tory appealed Sunday to citizens to stay home, to stay a metre apart and to avoid gathering in numbers, saying, “Please cooperate. Please stay home.
“We are trying to stop a health emergency.”
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