Top Stories 2020
October 30, 2020
Ontario’s long-term care minister needs to up her game fast
Mohammed Adam, The Ottawa Citizen
Long-term care homes were the epicentre of the virus in the first wave, accounting for three-quarters of deaths in Ontario, and anyone paying serious attention would have anticipated what was coming. The reality is that the Ministry of Long-term Care is always a step or two behind the crisis, and that raises serious questions about Minister Merrilee Fullerton.
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https://www.ontario.ca/page/long-term-care-covid-19-commission
October 23, 2020
Top 30 Ontario long-term care homes with the most reported violations from 2015 to 2019
CBC News, Marketplace
https://www.cbc.ca/news/marketplace/ontario-care-homes-violations-seniors-abuse-crimes-1.5772707
September 11, 2020
‘What is the plan?’: Ottawa long-term care outbreak raises fears about readiness for next wave of COVID-19’
Elizabeth Payne, The Ottawa Citizen
As of this week, at least 27 residents of Extendicare West End Villa and three staff members had tested positive for COVID-19, making it the largest current outbreak in the province and the only one with more than five active cases. Extendicare says it does not know for certain how the outbreak started, but it is a reminder how quickly COVID-19 can spread, especially among vulnerable long-term care residents, once it gets inside a home. Because it is the first significant outbreak in an Ontario long-term care home since the first wave of COVID-19 killed more than 1,800 long-term care residents and infected thousands more, it is the focus of attention from the province and Ottawa Public Health, which has been in daily contact with the home.
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June 26, 2020
Stop the finger pointing and plan for the second COVID-19 wave
Editorial Board, The Ottawa Citizen
This week, the Canadian Institute for Health Information released a report noting that, as of late May, 81 per cent of COVID-19-related deaths in Canada had been recorded in long-term care facilities. This compared poorly to the OECD average of 42 per cent. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford wasted no time blaming each other. Canada’s premiers, said Trudeau, had dropped the ball: “It is they who failed to protect our seniors well during this pandemic.”
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