Robust
action plan and new emergency order to protect the most vulnerable in
long-term care homes
TORONTO — In order to better protect the most vulnerable and
stop the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care homes, the Ontario government
has developed a robust action plan with key measures to be implemented within
hours. In addition, the province has issued a new emergency order restricting
long-term care staff from working in more than one long-term care home,
retirement home or health care setting. These measures are being taken on the
advice of Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health.
The COVID-19 Action Plan: Long-Term Care Homes was
announced today by Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and
Minister of Health, and Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care.
"We will do everything we can to protect our seniors and
most vulnerable citizens because we all know they are most at risk during
this pandemic," said Premier Ford. "Our three-point action plan
builds on the measures we have already taken to fortify that iron ring of
protection we have placed around our long-term care residents and those who
care for them."
The COVID-19
Action Plan: Long-Term Care Homes adds critical new measures to
prevent further outbreaks and deaths from COVID-19 in long-term care homes,
including:
- Aggressive Testing, Screening, and Surveillance: enhancing testing for symptomatic residents and
staff and those who have been in contact with persons confirmed to have
COVID-19; expanding screening to include more asymptomatic contacts of
confirmed cases; and leveraging surveillance tools to enable care
providers to move proactively against the disease.
- Managing Outbreaks and Spread of the Disease: supporting long-term care homes with public health
and infection control expertise to contain and prevent outbreaks;
providing additional training and support for current staff working
in outbreak conditions.
- Growing our Heroic Long-Term Care Workforce: redeploying staff from hospitals and home and
community care to support the long-term care home workforce and respond
to outbreaks, alongside intensive on-going recruitment initiatives.
Additional measures under development will help to ensure prepa
redness and respond to the situation as it evolves, including improving
isolation capacity at long-term care homes.
Within less than 48 hours, the government will immediately act
to deliver:
- enhanced testing and surveillance for symptomatic
residents and staff and those in contact with persons confirmed to have
COVID-19;
- testing of asymptomatic residents and staff in select
homes across the province to better understand how COVID-19 is
spreading;
- risk and capacity assessments for all homes;
- working with Ontario Health, the Ontario Hospital
Association, and public health units to assemble infection control and
preventions teams and additional supports;
- enhanced guidance on personal protective equipment
and continued priority distribution to homes;
- enhanced training and education to support staff
working in outbreak situations; and
- redeploying hospital and home care resources into
homes.
"We must continue to act to stop the spread of this virus
in our long-term care homes," said Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of
Long-Term Care. "Nothing is more important than protecting the health
and well-being of our l oved ones in long-term care, or the front-line heroes
who care for them."
"This new action plan significantly enhances existing
efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect our most vulnerable,
including long-term care home residents and the staff who care for
them," said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.
"Having significantly expanded the scope and scale of testing and made
considerable progress in securing personal protective equipment, Ontario has
never been better positioned to deliver on our commitment to support
long-term care homes in our shared battle against this virus."
The government has also issued an emergency order directing
long-term care employers to ensure their employees, including registered
nurses, registered practical nurses, personal support workers, kitchen and
cleaning staff only work in one long-term care home. This means that
employees cannot work in multiple locations such as a retirement home or
other health care setting.
As a result of this order, long-term care workers who must
temporarily give up a job in another care setting are protected from losing
their job as they are entitled to an unpaid leave of absence. To help
long-term care workers make up these lost wages, the government encourages
long-term care employers to offer full-time hours to their part-time employees
during the COVID-19 outbreak.
To help employers cover this expense, the government is taking
action to ensure long-term care homes have the flexibility and funds to
rapidly hire nurses and other front-line staff they need, when they need
them. These emergency funds are available to help long-term care homes cover
the incremental costs of increasing hours for part-time staff to help those
staff limit their work locations.
All long-term care staff continue to be subject to rigorous
screening procedures and must follow personal protective equipment
guidelines, including wearing surgical masks, gowns, gloves and eye
protection while in homes.
|
