LTC staff need better pay, support to ensure safety of residents: experts
by Maleeha Sheikh and Jessica Bruno
Posted Jan 5, 2021 6:35 pm EDT
Last Updated Jan 5, 2021 at 11:38 pm EDT
As more than one-third of Ontario’s long-term care homes are reporting outbreaks, healthcare experts say the lack of basic employment supports for staff, like paid sick days and a living wage, are contributing to the spread of COVID-19.
“This is why we’ve seen such a huge challenge during this pandemic in Ontario, where so many of these workers … are bringing COVID-19 into the homes,” says Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Geriatrics for Sinai Health System. “Frankly, a lot of folks don’t have a choice of taking a day off, but they really don’t have great sick benefits to begin with.”
TORONTO For the second time in days, families and advocates protested outside the Tendercare Living Centre in Scarborough demanding the province provide more staffing support as the home continues to grapple with a COVID-19 outbreak. We needed them here much before now and for some it s unfortunately too late, but there are still others in there that are fighting for their lives,” said Jessica Wong who learned on Christmas Eve that her 82 year-old grandmother, Jean Wan Cheung, tested positive for the virus. “The concern is more of us going to lose loved ones.” Concern and frustration is mounting as 48 residents have now died from the virus according to North York General Hospital. There are also 101 active resident cases and 53 staff cases.
TORONTO A long-term care home in Scarborough in the grips of a COVID-19 outbreak has recorded two more deaths as a result of the disease. The death toll related to the novel coronavirus at the Tendercare Living Centre in Scarborough now sits at 43, according to North York General Hospital (NYGH), which took over control of the home on Christmas Day. “We express our deepest condolences to those who have lost a family member or friend to this devastating virus,” a spokesperson said in a news release issued Monday. Meanwhile, there are 107 residents with COVID-19 at the home, down from the 128 residents reported in the last 24-hour period, which the hospital called a “positive sign.”
Families plead for help as coronavirus outbreaks worsen at Toronto long-term care homes
Family members of residents in Toronto’s long-term care homes are pleading for more government support as deadly outbreaks continue to surge amid the second wave of COVID-19.
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CBC News ·
Posted: Dec 28, 2020 4:33 PM ET | Last Updated: December 28, 2020
Dennis Chu, left, and his grandmother Wai Lo Lin, who died on Dec. 19 at Tendercare Living Centre after testing positive for COVID-19.(Dennis Chu/Submitted)