Ontario's COVID-19 death toll rises by 43 in one day
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Ontario will flood the province’s long-term care homes with new resources and order staff to limit their employment to one facility, Premier Doug Ford says.
“The reality is, despite our best efforts, we’re dealing with a wildfire at our long-term care homes right now,” Ford said Tuesday. “Families are separated from their loved ones right now and people are dying … The sad truth is our long-term care homes are quickly turning into the frontline of the fight against this virus.”
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Ontario's COVID-19 death toll rises by 43 in one day Back to video
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COVID-19 has now claimed 334 lives in Ontario, with 43 new deaths reported Tuesday alone as the coronavirus races through the long-term care facilities that are home to the most vulnerable.
Four more outbreaks in long-term care homes were identified, bringing the total to 93.
Ontario has now confirmed 7,953 cases of COVID-19 in total — 40% among those aged 60 years or older — after a one-day increase in new cases of 483.
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Of those who have died, 103 were aged 60-79 and 210 were 80 or older.
Since a surge in hospital demand has not materialized as expected, personnel and resources from that sector — like specialized infection teams — will be deployed to long-term care homes with a serious outbreak, Ford said.
“My top priority right now is getting the troops and the resources needed to this front,” Ford said, adding the government will launch an enhanced COVID-19 long-term care home plan.
The sector went into the pandemic with what it called a human resources “crisis.”
The Ontario Long Term Care Association has been warning the government, as recently as its 2020 budget submission, that 80% of its members reported difficulty finding enough staff to fill shifts.
“Long-term care homes are dealing with a severe shortage of staff, particularly personal support workers and registered nurses,” the submission says. “Homes are sometimes unable to fill the required shifts to provide all the care that residents need.”
With relatively-low pay and uncertain work, many staff worked in multiple facilities which increased the possibility of spread of the coronavirus between homes.
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Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she sat down with the Doug Ford government weeks ago to advise them that staff working in long-term care homes and group homes would need adequate supplies of personal protection equipment (PPE).
Horwath said while she was assured that PPE for those in nursing homes and similar facilities was a concern, it’s only very recently that anything was done about it.
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