There is a call to end the practise of having three and four residents in one room in Ontario's long-term care homes because it increases infection risk of COVID-19.
Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath said Ontario Premier Doug Ford should have already taken action to reduce the number of residents in individual rooms.
“In order to save money, the Ford government didn’t prepare long-term care homes for the second wave,” said Horwath.
“That includes leaving people in four-bed wards, where the virus easily spreads from person to person. If I were premier, I would have started investing in solutions and protections months ago. Instead, nursing homes are now lurching into another crisis without enough infection control in place,” Horwath said in a news release.
Horwath has asked the Conservative government to create a plan, provide funding and a timeline for moving residents into safer, one- and two-resident rooms.
The release said that as of Thursday last week, there were 65 nursing homes battling new COVID-19 outbreaks. On Oct. 6 in a legislative committee meeting, Minister Merrilee Fullerton and her staff acknowledged that the multi-bed wards were still in place, but said they’re “monitoring” the situation and have not set a date by which all residents need to be safe and protected, said the release.
The NDP has quoted QP Briefing (a Toronto Star paid newsletter) where it was revealed that the province has banned moving newly-admitted residents into multi-bed rooms, but allows residents already living in multi-bed rooms to stay there.
“So far, 1,900 people have died of COVID-19 in long-term care in Ontario,” said Horwath. She added that Ontario needs to take action to protect more LTC home residents by using more PPE (personal protective equipment), hiring more staff, using better infection control, more testing and a better plan to quarantine sick residents.
Last week, Horwath released her commitment to overhaul the home care and long-term care system, starting in 2022. The NDP plan includes building 50,000 spaces under a new model with smaller homes that feel like home, and banning all for-profit corporations within eight years — making a record investment to build a system that helps maintain the quality of life for aging Ontarians.
