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TORONTO – Steven Del Duca, Ontario Liberal Party Leader, made the following statement:
On March 30th Premier Ford talked about building an ‘iron ring of protection’ around Ontario’s seniors.
Since then it has emerged that a directive issued by his Chief Medical Officer of Health permits those who have tested positive for COVID 19 but are currently asymptomatic to work inside long term care facilities.
Health care staff were ‘recommended’ to only work in one long term care facility – but we’ve now learned this suggestion was not always followed. Yesterday, the government made this mandatory.
In defending this practice, Christine Elliott, the Minister of Health, said she “only recently” learned that asymptomatic individuals can spread the virus.
Let’s be clear: anyone that tests positive for COVID-19 should be kept at home until they can no longer spread the virus. They should not be in our long term care facilities.
The province must act immediately to keep covid-19 positive staff at home. The health care of our seniors must come first.