TORONTO, Ont. - With COVID-19 outbreaks in more than 200 long-term care homes across the province and more than 1,200 deaths, the official opposition is calling for answers.
During a special sitting of the Ontario Legislature on Tuesday, NDP leader Andrea Horwath asked if the government will launch a full public inquiry into the situation in long-term care, both during the COVID-19 pandemic and decades before.
“The system is definitely broken,” Horwath said at Queen’s Park. “Will he (Premier Doug Ford) put partisanship aside and commit to a full independent public inquiry so we can learn what went wrong and how to fix this deeply broken system.”
Ford said there is going to be a review of the system that he says has been broken for decades and it will be up to the entire Legislature to fix it, but he did not commit to a public inquiry.
“Families with loved ones in long-term care are demanding answers and deserve a full public inquiry that will give them those answers,” Horwath said.
“The loss is great and we will make sure we address the contributing factors to this, many of them pre-existing for decades,” said Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care. “The neglect of long-term care has been substantial for decades. There will be a review. The scope and the levels of detail are yet to be determined. We will get to the bottom of this.”
Opposition members also raised concerns regarding access to proper personal protective equipment for front-line workers in long-term care facilities.
“On Friday the premier insisted that PPE was available to frontline staff and personal support workers, but even as he was saying that, there were government plans to water down access to PPE,” Horwath said. “Will the premier make public the exact type and amount of supplies of PPE that are available.”
The NDP referred to a memo issued by the Ministry of Children and Community Services date May 8.
The memo reads: “For basic prevention, staff should wear cloth (non-medical) masks at all congregate care sites regardless of infection status. All suspect (symptomatic) and confirmed cases should be isolated in a single room and enhanced precautions must be deployed. All staff should use Droplet and Contact Precautions if they come within two metres of a suspected or confirmed case, this means enhanced PPE must be worn (surgical mask, eye protection, gown, gloves).”
A previous memo dated April 27 called for staff to wear masks in all congregate care sites regardless of infection status, but did not state non-medical.
“We support the use of appropriate equipment,” said Minister of Health Christine Elliott. “We have a system where they let us know what their inventory is, what they need, based on past usage. We ship it to them on a daily basis. If a N95 mask needs to be worn, it is available.”
