Ontarians will be able to visit loved ones in long-term care and retirement homes starting next week if they test negative for COVID-19.
Premier Doug Ford, along with Minister of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton announced a new plan on Thursday that will allow people to visit long-term care, retirement homes and other congregate living settings where there aren’t COVID-19 outbreaks.
Those visits will be allowed to start on June 18.
Long-term care homes that are not in an outbreak — defined as any more than a single case — will allow one visitor per resident, once a week in an outdoor setting.
“We need families to be able to see their loved ones and today we’re taking the first steps to help reunite families, to help reunite loved ones in the safest way possible,” said Ford at Thursday’s news conference.
Retirement homes will be able to resume indoor and outdoor visits in resident units or designated areas, while other residential care settings will allow outdoor visits of two people at a time as long as physical distancing can be maintained.
Minster of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton announced a “responsible” plan to allow visitors into long-term care and retirement homes during the provinces’ daily briefing on Thursday. 1:34
This new measure comes with many strict conditions for visitors. All visitors must have tested negative for the novel coronavirus in the past two weeks, complete a health questionnaire, and during the visit, must wear a face mask or covering, maintain a safe physical distance, and wash or disinfect their hands.
All congregate care homes also need to meet strict conditions before welcoming visitors. In addition to not being in an outbreak, homes must have an established process for communicating safety protocol and procedures to visitors and maintain strict infection prevention and control measures.
“I know this is a day we have all been desperately waiting for but we can’t take this progress for granted,” said Ford.
“I ask everyone to be cautious and act responsibility as the battle to contain COVID-19 is not over and the risk to our loved ones still remains.
Other residential care homes that will be allowed visitors under similar rules include homes serving people with developmental disabilities, shelters for survivors of gender-based violence, and children’s residential settings.
Meanwhile, Ontario public health officials have tracked COVID-19 outbreaks in a total of 316 long-term care facilities, though 77 remain active.
The newly confirmed infections mark the fewest seen on a single day since March 28 and just a 0.6 per cent increase in total cases.
More than 82 per cent, or some 25,885, of Ontario’s cumulative cases are resolved. There were twice as many recoveries, 505, than additional confirmed infections reported yesterday.
The province’s network of labs processed 24,341 tests, nearly reaching the system’s capacity of 25,000 on any given day. Another 16, 359 are in the queue waiting to be processed.
Further, there are currently 3,172 active cases in the province, the fewest since new daily cases started to rise again in mid-May.
Some 78 per cent of Ontario’s active cases are concentrated in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), while another 12 per cent are in other regions not moving forward into the next stage of reopening tomorrow.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams said during a COVID-19 briefing on Thursday, that the regions not moving forward to Stage 2 will be assessed on a weekly basis.
“Some of [the regions] that are in Stage 1, held back for the week, will be considered to move up to Stage 2 depending on how their data moves and shifts,” Williams said.
Any changes to the status of the regions still in Stage 1 will be announced on Monday, with the changes taking effect the following Friday.
“We’d rather go stalwartly forward, rather than jumping forward [and] going back,” he said.
Meanwhile, the number of patients in Ontario hospitals with confirmed cases of COVID-19 continued to drop, falling by 42 down to 538 — the fewest since April 5.
The number of those being treated in intensive care units and with ventilators both remained relatively steady at 120 and 87, respectively.
Ontario’s official death toll grew by 12 to 2,487. It’s the third straight day that the official count has increased by fewer than 15 deaths. A CBC News count based on data compiled directly from regional public health units, however, puts the real current death toll at 2,543.
Nearly 79 per cent of all deaths in the province were residents of long-term care homes.
Premier, health minister test negative
Meanwhile, Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott both tested negative for COVID-19, Ford’s office said today.
Lecce had an assessment completed in Toronto after learning he had recently been in contact with a person with a confirmed case of COVID-19. In a statement, a spokesperson for Lecce’s office said that he will remain in isolation for two weeks from the time of exposure, June 6 to June 20, and monitor for any potential symptoms.
Ford and Elliot are scheduled to be at today’s daily COVID-19 briefing at Queen’s Park.
“To be clear, both Premier Ford and Minister Elliott have had no known contact with anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19, and as a result, there is no need for either of them to self-isolate,” said Ivana Yelich, spokesperson for Ford’s office, in an email.
Ontario appoints new patient ombudsman
Meanwhile, the provincial government announced today that it has appointed a new patient ombudsman.
The role sat vacant for two years after Elliott, who was appointed to the position by the previous Liberal government, resigned in 2018 to run in the Progressive Conservative leadership race. The office continued to operate, however.
Cathy Fooks will step into the job effective July 13, the province said. Fooks has been the president and CEO of The Change Foundation, an independent health policy think tank based in Toronto, since 2007. Before that, she served as executive director of the now-defunct Health Council of Canada, a public reporting agency focused on health-care reform.
Her term as patient ombudsman will last five years, though the government can renew after that period.
Ontario is recommending passengers wear face coverings or non-medical masks on public transit to fight the spread of COVID-19.
It also urges commuters to practice physical distancing and hand washing, and the installation of barriers between drivers and passengers along with frequent cleanings.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins will bring in another quarterback while starter Tua Tagovailoa deals with his latest concussion, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.
For now, Skylar Thompson will be considered the Dolphins’ starter while Tagovailoa is sidelined. Tagovailoa left Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo in the third quarter with the third known concussion of his NFL career, all of them coming in the last 24 months.
“The team and the organization are very confident in Skylar,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said the team has not made any decision about whether to place Tagovailoa on injured reserve. Tagovailoa was expected at the team facility on Friday to start the process of being evaluated in earnest.
“We just have to operate in the unknown and be prepared for every situation,” McDaniel said, noting that the only opinions that will matter to the team will be the ones from Tagovailoa and the medical staff.
McDaniel added that he doesn’t see Tagovailoa playing in Miami’s next game at Seattle on Sept. 22.
“I have no idea and I’m not going to all of a sudden start making decisions that I don’t even see myself involved in the most important parts of,” McDaniel added. “All I’m telling Tua is everyone is counting on you to be a dad and be a dad this weekend. And then we’ll move from there. There won’t be any talk about where we’re going in that regard … none of that will happen without doctors’ expertise and the actual player.”
Tagovailoa was 17 for 25 passing for 145 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions — one of which was returned for a Buffalo score — when he got hurt. Thompson completed eight of 14 passes for 80 yards.
Thompson said he feels “fully equipped” to run the Dolphins’ offense.
“What’s going to lie ahead, who knows, but man, I’m confident, though,” Thompson said after Thursday’s game. “I feel like I’m ready for whatever’s to come. I’m going to prepare and work hard and do everything I can to lead this team and do my job.”
TORONTO – Unifor says workers at a Walmart warehouse in Mississauga, Ont., have voted to join the union.
The union says it’s Walmart’s first warehouse to unionize in Canada.
Unifor national president Lana Payne says the employees stood up for their rights and the union is excited to get to work on their first collective agreement.
Unifor’s campaign at Walmart’s facility began in December 2023.
The vote was held from Sept. 10 to 12.
Unifor represents 315,000 workers across the country.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
