Defund the politicians that create this kind of behaviour.
Ontario issues stay-at-home order except for essentials
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LACKIE: Roping off aisles at big box stores isn't evening playing field, it's just insulting
Author of the article:Brynn Lackie
Publishing date:Apr 24, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read • 63 Comments
Roping off aisles of non-essential goods at big box stores like Walmart is actually hurting people, writes Brynn Lackie.
Roping off aisles of non-essential goods at big box stores like Walmart is actually hurting people, writes Brynn Lackie. PHOTO BY CARLOS OSORIO /Reuters
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The morning before the April 8 lockdown restrictions went into effect was like most other — I dropped my son at preschool, grabbed the world’s largest coffee, and my bagel-munching toddler and I embarked on our daily hunt for garbage trucks.
As I drove along St Clair W., enjoying the momentary calm while trying to decide what errands I needed to run while I still could, I noticed a line stretching all the way down the block. Considering it wasn’t even 9 a.m., I was intrigued. LCBO already?
Willie Nelson urges President Joe Biden to recognize 4/20 as national holiday
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No. It was a lineup for the Goodwill. I was confused for a moment until it hit me — with in-person shopping about to shut down again indefinitely, people and families who depend on thrift stores had to be panicked.
Of course, I thought. But surely someone on the inside of these decisions has thought about what an untenable situation this will be for too many, and has a solution?
Two weeks later, all but lost in the bizarre pandemonium of that fateful Friday when it was announced that in concert with indefinite school closures, outdoor activities with low transmission risk were now off-limits, parks were closed, and police were newly empowered to stop anyone, at any time, to ask why they weren’t at home, were the changes to essential retail.
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In response to furious small business owners now all but hoarse from calling out the questionable logic in closing their small shops with stringent protocols, as big box stores were free to welcome swarms of arrow-ignoring shoppers, the Ford government decided that it was time to “even the playing field.”
The purchase of all “non-essential” goods, even within stores still open to the public, was now forbidden.
Grocery items, personal care products, cleaning supplies, fine — but a board game, a laundry basket, or a cheap toaster is roped off. Such non-essentials may only be ordered online or via curbside pickup.
There is a large percentage of our population for whom every aisle of the dollar store is essential. They’re not placing curbside orders and shopping on Amazon now, they’re going without.
Did anyone in that cabinet meeting pause the debate about golf courses and marina closures to consider the disastrous impact such a change will have on them?
The same people already disproportionately represented in the case numbers and ICU admissions. The very people who don’t have access to paid sick days. Those struggling as a result of job losses, those who don’t have credit cards or access to internet. The undocumented, the unhoused, the vulnerable.
Why else would Dollarama, a chain that only stocks non-perishables, have established itself as the leader in discount grocery stores within Canada, selling over $2 billion worth of food in 2019?
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Dollar stores and discount big box retail help people with limited resources get by.
Consistent since this all began has been the hollow refrain that we’re all in this together, experiencing this in the same way, and of course we well know that’s not the case.
All of our lives have been interrupted this past year. Some have been inconvenienced while others have been destroyed.
Small business owners are right to be infuriated by the extent to which their concerns have been consistently dismissed while the interests of corporate stakeholders appear to be consistently top of mind.
Roping off some aisles at Costco is achieving quite literally nothing in levelling that playing field.
Just because something is even doesn’t make it fair.
Just because it’s fair doesn’t make it equitable.
And given the extent to which the past 14 months of the pandemic has even further exacerbated many of the lesser-seen social and economic inequities, it’s absolutely disgraceful that these concerns are not front and centre in the decision making.
@brynnlackie
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Brynn Lackie
Publishing date:Apr 24, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read • 63 Comments
Roping off aisles of non-essential goods at big box stores like Walmart is actually hurting people, writes Brynn Lackie.
Roping off aisles of non-essential goods at big box stores like Walmart is actually hurting people, writes Brynn Lackie. PHOTO BY CARLOS OSORIO /Reuters
Article content
The morning before the April 8 lockdown restrictions went into effect was like most other — I dropped my son at preschool, grabbed the world’s largest coffee, and my bagel-munching toddler and I embarked on our daily hunt for garbage trucks.
As I drove along St Clair W., enjoying the momentary calm while trying to decide what errands I needed to run while I still could, I noticed a line stretching all the way down the block. Considering it wasn’t even 9 a.m., I was intrigued. LCBO already?
Willie Nelson urges President Joe Biden to recognize 4/20 as national holiday
Trackerdslogo
No. It was a lineup for the Goodwill. I was confused for a moment until it hit me — with in-person shopping about to shut down again indefinitely, people and families who depend on thrift stores had to be panicked.
Of course, I thought. But surely someone on the inside of these decisions has thought about what an untenable situation this will be for too many, and has a solution?
Two weeks later, all but lost in the bizarre pandemonium of that fateful Friday when it was announced that in concert with indefinite school closures, outdoor activities with low transmission risk were now off-limits, parks were closed, and police were newly empowered to stop anyone, at any time, to ask why they weren’t at home, were the changes to essential retail.
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In response to furious small business owners now all but hoarse from calling out the questionable logic in closing their small shops with stringent protocols, as big box stores were free to welcome swarms of arrow-ignoring shoppers, the Ford government decided that it was time to “even the playing field.”
The purchase of all “non-essential” goods, even within stores still open to the public, was now forbidden.
Grocery items, personal care products, cleaning supplies, fine — but a board game, a laundry basket, or a cheap toaster is roped off. Such non-essentials may only be ordered online or via curbside pickup.
There is a large percentage of our population for whom every aisle of the dollar store is essential. They’re not placing curbside orders and shopping on Amazon now, they’re going without.
Did anyone in that cabinet meeting pause the debate about golf courses and marina closures to consider the disastrous impact such a change will have on them?
The same people already disproportionately represented in the case numbers and ICU admissions. The very people who don’t have access to paid sick days. Those struggling as a result of job losses, those who don’t have credit cards or access to internet. The undocumented, the unhoused, the vulnerable.
Why else would Dollarama, a chain that only stocks non-perishables, have established itself as the leader in discount grocery stores within Canada, selling over $2 billion worth of food in 2019?
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This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Dollar stores and discount big box retail help people with limited resources get by.
Consistent since this all began has been the hollow refrain that we’re all in this together, experiencing this in the same way, and of course we well know that’s not the case.
All of our lives have been interrupted this past year. Some have been inconvenienced while others have been destroyed.
Small business owners are right to be infuriated by the extent to which their concerns have been consistently dismissed while the interests of corporate stakeholders appear to be consistently top of mind.
Roping off some aisles at Costco is achieving quite literally nothing in levelling that playing field.
Just because something is even doesn’t make it fair.
Just because it’s fair doesn’t make it equitable.
And given the extent to which the past 14 months of the pandemic has even further exacerbated many of the lesser-seen social and economic inequities, it’s absolutely disgraceful that these concerns are not front and centre in the decision making.
@brynnlackie
LACKIE: Roping off aisles at big box stores isn't evening playing field, it's just insulting
LACKIE: Roping off aisles at big box stores isn't evening playing field, it's just insulting
LILLEY: If Pearson was treated like Amazon, it would be closed
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Apr 25, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 3 minute read • 89 Comments
A woman arriving from overseas has been charged with allegedly using a fraudulent COVID-19 document after arriving at Pearson Airport.
International arrivals at Toronto's Pearson airport. PHOTO BY JACK BOLAND /Toronto Sun
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We accepted rules saying we can’t visit family and friends and that closed restaurants to indoor dining in Toronto for about 300 days in the last year, but why does the airport remain open?
It makes no sense at all that these are the rules or that sections of two of Amazon’s warehouses were closed for a fraction of the cases coming in via flights at Pearson.
Beyond that, we have politicians arguing that a third wave driven by the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the U.K., isn’t the result of travel.
That’s right, we need to keep stores, restaurants, hair salons and offices closed to control COVID but airplanes full of people coming from hotspots around the world are perfectly fine. If that’s your thinking, then you are no doubt a TruAnon Liberal, part of the cult that believes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can do no wrong.
Here’s the deal, I don’t like all of these closures — few people do — but you can’t tell me that visiting my mother is too dangerous but flying to Glasgow to see my Uncle Frank is just fine.
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Yet, that is where the Trudeau Liberals are.
They have shut down flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days but also claimed travel is not the source of Canada’s COVID woes. Will they still tell us that when the B1.617 variant discovered in India is creating a fourth wave?
Based on their track record, yes.
For all the criticism that Premier Doug Ford takes from his critics for opening up too early or not closing things down enough, Trudeau deserves even more criticism.
Ford can shut down all the businesses that he wants, but if Trudeau keeps letting cases in and those travellers infect other people, Ford’s restrictions won’t matter.
Right now, 70% of all cases in Ontario are the B.1.1.7 variant. That variant came in through travel; it didn’t originate in Timmins.
Before the variant showed up, Ford had been calling on Trudeau to put in more border measures, including testing upon arrival and enforcing quarantine measures. As he has at every stage of the pandemic, Trudeau acted too late, once the variant was here and even then his government claimed travel was not an issue.
Under new rules brought in by Peel Public Health, workplaces are shut down for 10 days if they have five cases over a two-week period. Two Amazon warehouses are shut now but Pearson remains open with cases arriving on flights from Delhi, Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Islamabad.
Hundreds of cases at the airport, passengers testing positive later in their quarantine, long after they had left. If Pearson, or any of Canada’s airports were subjected to the rules of Amazon’s warehouses, they would not be open.
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If they were subjected to the same rules as hair salons, restaurants, or stores, all of these airports would be closed.
It amazes me that as we struggle with an imported third wave — with another variant arriving on our shores — that people who support all of the other closures argue for airports to stay open and claim, as Trudeau’s ministers and MPs continue to, that travel is not a factor.
That’s a lie.
On Sunday, six PC MPPs for Mississauga, where Pearson is based, wrote to their federal counterparts, including Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, asking for an end to all non-essential travel. They noted 10,000 people last week landed at Pearson on international flights and 80,000 people – not counting exempt truckers – crossed the land border in that time as proof something needs to be done.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
The flight arrival lineup at Toronto's Pearson International Airport located in Terminal One on Feb. 22, 2021.
LILLEY: Trudeau finally bans passenger flights from COVID hot spots
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and Premier Doug Ford
LILLEY: Ford correct to say Trudeau's border measures don't go far enough
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is inoculated with AstraZeneca's vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a pharmacy in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Friday, April 23, 2021.
LILLEY: Trudeau has failed at every turn during COVID despite his claims to the contrary
“We urgently ask that your government act, ban all non-essential travel, and close the land border loophole, to prevent this crisis from getting worse,” the MPPs wrote.
I hope that they do act before things get worse, but their track record says that won’t happen — not without some serious pressure from the public.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Apr 25, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 3 minute read • 89 Comments
A woman arriving from overseas has been charged with allegedly using a fraudulent COVID-19 document after arriving at Pearson Airport.
International arrivals at Toronto's Pearson airport. PHOTO BY JACK BOLAND /Toronto Sun
Article content
We accepted rules saying we can’t visit family and friends and that closed restaurants to indoor dining in Toronto for about 300 days in the last year, but why does the airport remain open?
It makes no sense at all that these are the rules or that sections of two of Amazon’s warehouses were closed for a fraction of the cases coming in via flights at Pearson.
Beyond that, we have politicians arguing that a third wave driven by the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the U.K., isn’t the result of travel.
That’s right, we need to keep stores, restaurants, hair salons and offices closed to control COVID but airplanes full of people coming from hotspots around the world are perfectly fine. If that’s your thinking, then you are no doubt a TruAnon Liberal, part of the cult that believes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can do no wrong.
Here’s the deal, I don’t like all of these closures — few people do — but you can’t tell me that visiting my mother is too dangerous but flying to Glasgow to see my Uncle Frank is just fine.
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Article content
Yet, that is where the Trudeau Liberals are.
They have shut down flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days but also claimed travel is not the source of Canada’s COVID woes. Will they still tell us that when the B1.617 variant discovered in India is creating a fourth wave?
Based on their track record, yes.
For all the criticism that Premier Doug Ford takes from his critics for opening up too early or not closing things down enough, Trudeau deserves even more criticism.
Ford can shut down all the businesses that he wants, but if Trudeau keeps letting cases in and those travellers infect other people, Ford’s restrictions won’t matter.
Right now, 70% of all cases in Ontario are the B.1.1.7 variant. That variant came in through travel; it didn’t originate in Timmins.
Before the variant showed up, Ford had been calling on Trudeau to put in more border measures, including testing upon arrival and enforcing quarantine measures. As he has at every stage of the pandemic, Trudeau acted too late, once the variant was here and even then his government claimed travel was not an issue.
Under new rules brought in by Peel Public Health, workplaces are shut down for 10 days if they have five cases over a two-week period. Two Amazon warehouses are shut now but Pearson remains open with cases arriving on flights from Delhi, Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Islamabad.
Hundreds of cases at the airport, passengers testing positive later in their quarantine, long after they had left. If Pearson, or any of Canada’s airports were subjected to the rules of Amazon’s warehouses, they would not be open.
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If they were subjected to the same rules as hair salons, restaurants, or stores, all of these airports would be closed.
It amazes me that as we struggle with an imported third wave — with another variant arriving on our shores — that people who support all of the other closures argue for airports to stay open and claim, as Trudeau’s ministers and MPs continue to, that travel is not a factor.
That’s a lie.
On Sunday, six PC MPPs for Mississauga, where Pearson is based, wrote to their federal counterparts, including Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, asking for an end to all non-essential travel. They noted 10,000 people last week landed at Pearson on international flights and 80,000 people – not counting exempt truckers – crossed the land border in that time as proof something needs to be done.
The flight arrival lineup at Toronto's Pearson International Airport located in Terminal One on Feb. 22, 2021.
LILLEY: Trudeau finally bans passenger flights from COVID hot spots
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and Premier Doug Ford
LILLEY: Ford correct to say Trudeau's border measures don't go far enough
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is inoculated with AstraZeneca's vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a pharmacy in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Friday, April 23, 2021.
LILLEY: Trudeau has failed at every turn during COVID despite his claims to the contrary
“We urgently ask that your government act, ban all non-essential travel, and close the land border loophole, to prevent this crisis from getting worse,” the MPPs wrote.
I hope that they do act before things get worse, but their track record says that won’t happen — not without some serious pressure from the public.
LILLEY: If Pearson was treated like Amazon, it would be closed
Why does the airport remain open?
LEVY: Switch Health leaves COVID test client on hold for 10 hours
Author of the article:Sue-Ann Levy
Publishing date:Apr 26, 2021 • 7 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
A passenger is pictured at Pearson International Airport on Jan. 31, 2021.
A passenger is pictured at Pearson International Airport on Jan. 31, 2021. PHOTO BY VERONICA HENRI, TORONTO SUN /Toronto Sun
Article content
It took Gareth Davies 10 hours to get through to a nurse to do his virtual COVID at-home test Sunday.
Davies, who works in international development for an American company, found himself disconnected three times.
When a nurse finally came on around 5 p.m., he said the connection “was terrible,” he could hardly hear her and the image was all grainy and dark.
Since he’d just come from Cairo — where he was working on modernizing the finance and planning ministries (and responding to COVID) there — he thought she was based overseas, perhaps even in Africa.
“It was just ridiculous … it was insanity,” he said Monday from his Canadian home in London, Ont., where he was in his ninth day of quarantine.
“This was like something from the early days of the internet.”
Switch Health — a Toronto-based company that won the federal government’s bid to conduct the COVID quarantine tests on international travellers, starting on Feb. 21 — says on its website that the wait for a virtual nurse is 10 minutes to two hours.
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“No, it’s not,” Davies said. “It’s 10 minutes to all day and maybe the next day.”
He said he feels the company “can’t handle” the massive testing contract.
Davies wasn’t sure why the testing was changed from Day 10 to Day 8 — he thinks it was done because Switch Health was having a problem delivering the results by Day 14 and not for any scientific reason.
“Obviously, it’s taking a while to get tested and get the results,” he said. “Are we adjusting dates so this company can keep its contract?”
He also wondered how the country could spare 80 nurses given the third wave — desperately needed nurses who are tied up doing these virtual tests.
“It is so wrongheaded,” he said, adding the whole unwieldy process is so unnecessary.
“It could have been done in a more practical way.”
Davies, who has both Canadian and British passports, said he was in the U.K. system before coming to Canada.
There, travellers could pick from among a series of approved companies and pay for the test themselves, which seemed far more efficient.
This is the exact same issue I heard two weeks ago from a Port Alberni woman who waited online 9 1/2 hours for her Day 10 COVID test.
She, too, was disconnected three times from the Switch Health portal.
A spokesperson for Switch Health assured me all nurses are from Canada.
He also said some patients have had “internet connectivity issues” depending on where they live and when that happens, a nurse can call the patient and walk through the test on the phone.
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He added that there are times “where demand is higher” and the average wait time is “usually around 30 minutes.”
“But there are periods of the day where it can be longer,” he said. “Early in the morning and later in the evening, wait times can be less than five minutes.”
He said the move from testing on Day 10 to Day 8 was done to help identify positive cases and allow “sequencing of variants of concern sooner.”
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Pamela Welgan and her husband, Jorge Baranbiaran.
LEVY: Quarantined couple wait online 9 hours for COVID test
None
LEVY: Woman, 99, lived alone in seniors building for a year amid pandemic
Travellers from an international flight are directed to the COVID-19 testing area as part of Canada's measures against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, February 24, 2021.
LEVY: Traveller warned to be polite to border guard or pay higher fine
Two weeks ago the same Switch Health spokesperson said about 1,200 or 1.2% country-wide come back positive.
Efforts to get a response from Public Health Canada about the delays generated an email about what Switch Health was contracted to do–following a competitive process — on Feb. 20.
A media spokesperson said Switch Health Holdings provides the “initial test (upon arrival) for travellers who land in Toronto.
SLevy@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Sue-Ann Levy
Publishing date:Apr 26, 2021 • 7 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
A passenger is pictured at Pearson International Airport on Jan. 31, 2021.
A passenger is pictured at Pearson International Airport on Jan. 31, 2021. PHOTO BY VERONICA HENRI, TORONTO SUN /Toronto Sun
Article content
It took Gareth Davies 10 hours to get through to a nurse to do his virtual COVID at-home test Sunday.
Davies, who works in international development for an American company, found himself disconnected three times.
When a nurse finally came on around 5 p.m., he said the connection “was terrible,” he could hardly hear her and the image was all grainy and dark.
Since he’d just come from Cairo — where he was working on modernizing the finance and planning ministries (and responding to COVID) there — he thought she was based overseas, perhaps even in Africa.
“It was just ridiculous … it was insanity,” he said Monday from his Canadian home in London, Ont., where he was in his ninth day of quarantine.
“This was like something from the early days of the internet.”
Switch Health — a Toronto-based company that won the federal government’s bid to conduct the COVID quarantine tests on international travellers, starting on Feb. 21 — says on its website that the wait for a virtual nurse is 10 minutes to two hours.
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“No, it’s not,” Davies said. “It’s 10 minutes to all day and maybe the next day.”
He said he feels the company “can’t handle” the massive testing contract.
Davies wasn’t sure why the testing was changed from Day 10 to Day 8 — he thinks it was done because Switch Health was having a problem delivering the results by Day 14 and not for any scientific reason.
“Obviously, it’s taking a while to get tested and get the results,” he said. “Are we adjusting dates so this company can keep its contract?”
He also wondered how the country could spare 80 nurses given the third wave — desperately needed nurses who are tied up doing these virtual tests.
“It is so wrongheaded,” he said, adding the whole unwieldy process is so unnecessary.
“It could have been done in a more practical way.”
Davies, who has both Canadian and British passports, said he was in the U.K. system before coming to Canada.
There, travellers could pick from among a series of approved companies and pay for the test themselves, which seemed far more efficient.
This is the exact same issue I heard two weeks ago from a Port Alberni woman who waited online 9 1/2 hours for her Day 10 COVID test.
She, too, was disconnected three times from the Switch Health portal.
A spokesperson for Switch Health assured me all nurses are from Canada.
He also said some patients have had “internet connectivity issues” depending on where they live and when that happens, a nurse can call the patient and walk through the test on the phone.
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He added that there are times “where demand is higher” and the average wait time is “usually around 30 minutes.”
“But there are periods of the day where it can be longer,” he said. “Early in the morning and later in the evening, wait times can be less than five minutes.”
He said the move from testing on Day 10 to Day 8 was done to help identify positive cases and allow “sequencing of variants of concern sooner.”
Pamela Welgan and her husband, Jorge Baranbiaran.
LEVY: Quarantined couple wait online 9 hours for COVID test
None
LEVY: Woman, 99, lived alone in seniors building for a year amid pandemic
Travellers from an international flight are directed to the COVID-19 testing area as part of Canada's measures against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, February 24, 2021.
LEVY: Traveller warned to be polite to border guard or pay higher fine
Two weeks ago the same Switch Health spokesperson said about 1,200 or 1.2% country-wide come back positive.
Efforts to get a response from Public Health Canada about the delays generated an email about what Switch Health was contracted to do–following a competitive process — on Feb. 20.
A media spokesperson said Switch Health Holdings provides the “initial test (upon arrival) for travellers who land in Toronto.
SLevy@postmedia.com
LEVY: Switch Health leaves COVID test client on hold for 10 hours
It took Gareth Davies 10 hours to get through to a nurse to do his virtual COVID at-home test Sunday.
WARMINGTON: 13-year-old Brampton girl dies of COVID-19
Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Publishing date:Apr 26, 2021 • 6 hours ago • 3 minute read • 113 Comments
Emily Victoria Viegas.
Emily Victoria Viegas. PHOTO BY HANDOUT /FACEBOOK
Article content
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown calls the death of a 13-year-old in his city reportedly as a result of COVID-19 “horrifying” and a reminder of how deadly the coronavirus can be.
A family friend has started a GoFundMe campaign to help with burial costs for the Brampton girl, who died April 22 at home.
“With a heavy heart I regret to announce the passing of Emily Victoria Viegas, the 13-year-old daughter of our good friend Carlos Viegas,” Adrian Goddard said on GoFundMe, where he is listed as the fundraiser organizer. “She passed away from COVID on April 22, 2021. If you have the means please donate whatever you can to help with her funeral and burial costs.
“Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult and unfortunate time.”
As of early Monday, more than $40,000 had been raised in what was originally a goal of $10,000.
The news is devastating.
“My heart absolutely breaks for this family,” Premier Doug Ford said in a statement. “I can’t imagine the unbearable pain and sorrow they are feeling right now. It’s heart-wrenching and a devastating reminder of what this virus can do. On behalf of all Ontarians, I’m sending my deepest condolences to everyone who is suffering from the terrible loss of this young life.”
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Emily’s dad, Carlos Viegas, 58, is a well-known ball hockey player and official.
Emily Victoria Viegas. HANDOUT
Emily Victoria Viegas. HANDOUT
In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Viegas described treating his daughter — who suffered from symptoms including a cough and fever at home, while his wife is in hospital recovering from COVID-19 — with Tylenol and water. He told the newspaper he is vaccinated and the only member of his family who did not contract COVID-19. He said her brother found Emily unresponsive.
“To tell you the truth it felt real when I found her in bed. I put my head to her chest and I couldn’t feel nothing. No heartbeat. No breathing,” Viegas is quoted in the story from reporter Dakshana Bascaramurty.
Ontario coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer told the CBC’s Metro Morning that the province will investigate.
“What a tragedy,” Huyer said. “My heart goes out to the family and all of those that knew her. We’re really trying to understand the circumstances more clearly.”
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Emily is one of the youngest people in Canada to die reportedly as a result of the coronavirus. There have been reports of a toddler who died in British Columbia and a 16-year-old girl in Quebec, as well. The spread of variants and the concern of those forms of COVID striking younger people has prompted Premier Doug Ford to issue a provincewide stay-at-home order and has children doing their schooling remotely.
“This is beyond heart wrenching,” tweeted Brown. “As a parent, I am lost for words. Horrifying. We can never underestimate the seriousness of #covid19 and the variants. My deepest condolences on behalf of the @CityBrampton #RIPEmilyVictoriaViegas.”
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Fellow Peel Region Mayor Bonnie Crombie of Mississauga tweeted, “My deepest condolences to Emily Viegas’ parents, family and friends. To lose someone so young to this virus is a truly heartbreaking.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory also conveyed his condolences on CP24 Monday morning.
Peel Public Health offered condolences to Emily’s family and friends, adding, “While we certainly stand with all the families in our Region that have suffered such loss during the pandemic, we acknowledge it is uniquely tragic to lose someone at such a young age.”
jwarmington@postmedia.com
gofundme.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Publishing date:Apr 26, 2021 • 6 hours ago • 3 minute read • 113 Comments
Emily Victoria Viegas.
Emily Victoria Viegas. PHOTO BY HANDOUT /FACEBOOK
Article content
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown calls the death of a 13-year-old in his city reportedly as a result of COVID-19 “horrifying” and a reminder of how deadly the coronavirus can be.
A family friend has started a GoFundMe campaign to help with burial costs for the Brampton girl, who died April 22 at home.
“With a heavy heart I regret to announce the passing of Emily Victoria Viegas, the 13-year-old daughter of our good friend Carlos Viegas,” Adrian Goddard said on GoFundMe, where he is listed as the fundraiser organizer. “She passed away from COVID on April 22, 2021. If you have the means please donate whatever you can to help with her funeral and burial costs.
“Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult and unfortunate time.”
As of early Monday, more than $40,000 had been raised in what was originally a goal of $10,000.
The news is devastating.
“My heart absolutely breaks for this family,” Premier Doug Ford said in a statement. “I can’t imagine the unbearable pain and sorrow they are feeling right now. It’s heart-wrenching and a devastating reminder of what this virus can do. On behalf of all Ontarians, I’m sending my deepest condolences to everyone who is suffering from the terrible loss of this young life.”
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Emily’s dad, Carlos Viegas, 58, is a well-known ball hockey player and official.
Emily Victoria Viegas. HANDOUT
Emily Victoria Viegas. HANDOUT
In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Viegas described treating his daughter — who suffered from symptoms including a cough and fever at home, while his wife is in hospital recovering from COVID-19 — with Tylenol and water. He told the newspaper he is vaccinated and the only member of his family who did not contract COVID-19. He said her brother found Emily unresponsive.
“To tell you the truth it felt real when I found her in bed. I put my head to her chest and I couldn’t feel nothing. No heartbeat. No breathing,” Viegas is quoted in the story from reporter Dakshana Bascaramurty.
Ontario coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer told the CBC’s Metro Morning that the province will investigate.
“What a tragedy,” Huyer said. “My heart goes out to the family and all of those that knew her. We’re really trying to understand the circumstances more clearly.”
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Emily is one of the youngest people in Canada to die reportedly as a result of the coronavirus. There have been reports of a toddler who died in British Columbia and a 16-year-old girl in Quebec, as well. The spread of variants and the concern of those forms of COVID striking younger people has prompted Premier Doug Ford to issue a provincewide stay-at-home order and has children doing their schooling remotely.
“This is beyond heart wrenching,” tweeted Brown. “As a parent, I am lost for words. Horrifying. We can never underestimate the seriousness of #covid19 and the variants. My deepest condolences on behalf of the @CityBrampton #RIPEmilyVictoriaViegas.”
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Fellow Peel Region Mayor Bonnie Crombie of Mississauga tweeted, “My deepest condolences to Emily Viegas’ parents, family and friends. To lose someone so young to this virus is a truly heartbreaking.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory also conveyed his condolences on CP24 Monday morning.
Peel Public Health offered condolences to Emily’s family and friends, adding, “While we certainly stand with all the families in our Region that have suffered such loss during the pandemic, we acknowledge it is uniquely tragic to lose someone at such a young age.”
jwarmington@postmedia.com
Donate to Emily Victoria Viegas, organized by Adrian Goddard
With a heavy heart I regret to announce the passing of Emily Victoria Viegas the 13 year old da… Adrian Goddard needs your support for Emily Victoria Viegas
WARMINGTON: 13-year-old Brampton girl dies of COVID-19
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown calls the death of a 13-year-old in his city reportedly as a result of COVID-19 “horrifying” and a reminder of how deadly the coronavir…
More charges expected after 'large' Sunday service at Aylmer church
Author of the article:Free Press staff
Publishing date:Apr 26, 2021 • 9 hours ago • 2 minute read • 72 Comments
Police at the Church of God in Aylmer. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press file photo)
Police at the Church of God in Aylmer. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press file photo)
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Aylmer Police are expecting to lay charges for violations of Ontario’s emergency orders after a Sunday service at the Church of God.
Officers went to the John St. North church at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Aylmer Police say. A “large number of participants” entered the church, violating the province’s emergency rules on gathering limits.
Police say they received more than a dozen complaints about the service.
“Several persons of interest were identified and charges for violating the emergency orders are being processed,” police said in a statement Sunday.
Officers laid three other charges unrelated to the emergency order at the church.
At approximately 12:55 pm., a man began to interfere with an Aylmer officer, was warned by the officer, but continued to interfere, police say.
A 20-year-old from Perth East Township is charged with obstructing police, was arrested and later released.
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MORE ON THIS TOPIC
The Church of God in Aylmer, Ont. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)
Four charged after gathering at Aylmer's Church of God: Police
Police at the Church of God in Aylmer. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press file photo)
Toronto cops among those charged in Aylmer Church of God gathering
Pastor Henry Hildebrandt, right, preaches Sunday at a drive-in service at the Church of God in Aylmer. Hildebrandt said church members were staying in their vehicles as a goodwill gesture to the provincial government. The Ministry of the Attorney General obtained an interim court order Friday night requiring the church to comply with emergency laws limiting indoor and outdoor religious services to a maximum of 10 people. Mike Hensen/The London Free Press
Aylmer Church of God backs down from indoor service amid court order
Pastor Henry Hildebrandt welcomes his congregation and those protesting on the road nearby to a drive-in service at Aylmer's Church of God. Photo taken Jan. 4, 2021. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)
Aylmer police chief blunt ahead of Sunday church service: 'Stay away'
Police say a man charged at a reporter in an aggressive manner during the event.
A 48-year-old man from Perth East Township is charged with assault, arrested and released on an undertaking, Aylmer Police say.
Police say a woman began interfering with an Aylmer officer and did not stop when she was warned.
Aylmer Police have an arrest warrant for a 52-year-old woman from Shakespeare on one count of obstructing police.
Aylmer’s Church of God has been a frequent flashpoint for anti-lockdown protests during the pandemic, often holding in-person services in deliberate defiance of the province’s limits on gatherings.
Among the people at Sunday’s service were anti-lockdown activists MPP Randy Hillier, MP Derek Sloan, and neonatal nurse Kristen Nagle, who was fired by London Health Sciences Centre in January after helping organize a November rally in Victoria Park.
They were called to the front of the church and raised their hands in solidarity with Pastor Henry Hildebrandt at the end of the service.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Free Press staff
Publishing date:Apr 26, 2021 • 9 hours ago • 2 minute read • 72 Comments
Police at the Church of God in Aylmer. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press file photo)
Police at the Church of God in Aylmer. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press file photo)
Article content
Aylmer Police are expecting to lay charges for violations of Ontario’s emergency orders after a Sunday service at the Church of God.
Officers went to the John St. North church at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Aylmer Police say. A “large number of participants” entered the church, violating the province’s emergency rules on gathering limits.
Police say they received more than a dozen complaints about the service.
“Several persons of interest were identified and charges for violating the emergency orders are being processed,” police said in a statement Sunday.
Officers laid three other charges unrelated to the emergency order at the church.
At approximately 12:55 pm., a man began to interfere with an Aylmer officer, was warned by the officer, but continued to interfere, police say.
A 20-year-old from Perth East Township is charged with obstructing police, was arrested and later released.
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The Church of God in Aylmer, Ont. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)
Four charged after gathering at Aylmer's Church of God: Police
Police at the Church of God in Aylmer. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press file photo)
Toronto cops among those charged in Aylmer Church of God gathering
Pastor Henry Hildebrandt, right, preaches Sunday at a drive-in service at the Church of God in Aylmer. Hildebrandt said church members were staying in their vehicles as a goodwill gesture to the provincial government. The Ministry of the Attorney General obtained an interim court order Friday night requiring the church to comply with emergency laws limiting indoor and outdoor religious services to a maximum of 10 people. Mike Hensen/The London Free Press
Aylmer Church of God backs down from indoor service amid court order
Pastor Henry Hildebrandt welcomes his congregation and those protesting on the road nearby to a drive-in service at Aylmer's Church of God. Photo taken Jan. 4, 2021. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)
Aylmer police chief blunt ahead of Sunday church service: 'Stay away'
Police say a man charged at a reporter in an aggressive manner during the event.
A 48-year-old man from Perth East Township is charged with assault, arrested and released on an undertaking, Aylmer Police say.
Police say a woman began interfering with an Aylmer officer and did not stop when she was warned.
Aylmer Police have an arrest warrant for a 52-year-old woman from Shakespeare on one count of obstructing police.
Aylmer’s Church of God has been a frequent flashpoint for anti-lockdown protests during the pandemic, often holding in-person services in deliberate defiance of the province’s limits on gatherings.
Among the people at Sunday’s service were anti-lockdown activists MPP Randy Hillier, MP Derek Sloan, and neonatal nurse Kristen Nagle, who was fired by London Health Sciences Centre in January after helping organize a November rally in Victoria Park.
They were called to the front of the church and raised their hands in solidarity with Pastor Henry Hildebrandt at the end of the service.
More charges expected after 'large' Sunday service at Aylmer church
Aylmer Police are expecting to lay charges for violations of Ontario’s emergency orders after a Sunday service at the Church of God.
LILLEY: Trudeau downplays threat as more COVID-infected travellers arrive
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Apr 26, 2021 • 8 hours ago • 3 minute read • 41 Comments
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax is not revenue neutral as his government originally claimed, writes Lorrie Goldstein.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax is not revenue neutral as his government originally claimed, writes Lorrie Goldstein. PHOTO BY DAVE CHAN /AFP Via Getty Images
Article content
When Air Canada Flight 1255 from Kingston, Jamaica, to Toronto touched down last Friday afternoon, there was at least one COVID-positive passenger on board.
Now those passengers who were in rows 30-36 of the plane that can carry more than 250 passengers are warned they have been exposed to the deadly virus.
This flight is the most recent one listed on the website of the Public Health Agency of Canada, but it joins flights from Newark, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Dubai, Denver, Brussels, Paris, Doha, Abu Dhabi, and, of course, Delhi in the long list of COVID-positive flights.
Is it any wonder there are calls to do more to stop COVID from coming in via the border?
“We need to keep these variants out of Canada; we need to secure our border,” Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said Monday.
O’Toole said the government needs to stop flights from all hot-spot countries and consider shutting down all international flights for a period to get the importation of cases and variants under control.
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Figures released by the Public Health Agency of Canada to the Toronto Sun show that from Feb. 22-April 23, 168,887 air travellers were tested with 3,158 registering positive for COVID-19.
That works out to 1.9% of all air travellers testing positive when they land, but that does not include those who tested positive afterward.
“Someone can bring back a lot more than just some memories,” Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer, said of air passengers. Williams said he is very concerned about the entry of variants into the country.
“I don’t think in my mind that the system is as solid as it should be,” Williams said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has downplayed the threat of new cases or variants entering the country via travel, despite also instituting a ban on flights from India and Pakistan.
“The vast majority of our cases are variants of concern that have originated in other countries,” said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario’s associate medical officer.
“So, the fact that 2% are directly travel-related, of course, is important, but it doesn’t represent the burden of illness that’s associated with international travel.”
Back in December, shortly after banning flights from the U.K. for a period as the variant from that country was appearing in Canada, the Trudeau Liberals used the same line, that international travel was not an issue. Yet as Yaffe pointed out, 75% of the cases in Ontario now are the B.1.1.7 variant first discovered in the U.K.
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Travel matters, the question is what to do about it.
Dr. Vivek Goel, a health researcher and member of the national COVID-19 Immunity Task Force said travel is tricky because reacting to hot spots means you are already behind the curve. Still, learning that over the past two months, 1.9% of passengers arriving in Canada are testing positive does leave him worried.
“What concerns me with that number, this is amongst the people who should have had a negative test in the three days before the flight,” Goel said.
He added the testing and quarantine program that the federal government has instituted is not working properly.
“If the rest of the quarantine program was working as it should, then I would say the risk of introduction would be really small,” Goel said.
He added while stopping all travel would be difficult, fixing the program, including testing and quarantine, would be the easier measure.
We have lots of holes in the system, from fake PCR tests that people purchase before boarding a flight to Canada, to people spending their “quarantine” in a house full of people who are going to work and school.
The Trudeau government said we have among the “most stringent measures” but the truth is something else completely.
The PM has for too long put votes above action, and now we are all paying for it.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Apr 26, 2021 • 8 hours ago • 3 minute read • 41 Comments
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax is not revenue neutral as his government originally claimed, writes Lorrie Goldstein.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax is not revenue neutral as his government originally claimed, writes Lorrie Goldstein. PHOTO BY DAVE CHAN /AFP Via Getty Images
Article content
When Air Canada Flight 1255 from Kingston, Jamaica, to Toronto touched down last Friday afternoon, there was at least one COVID-positive passenger on board.
Now those passengers who were in rows 30-36 of the plane that can carry more than 250 passengers are warned they have been exposed to the deadly virus.
This flight is the most recent one listed on the website of the Public Health Agency of Canada, but it joins flights from Newark, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Dubai, Denver, Brussels, Paris, Doha, Abu Dhabi, and, of course, Delhi in the long list of COVID-positive flights.
Is it any wonder there are calls to do more to stop COVID from coming in via the border?
“We need to keep these variants out of Canada; we need to secure our border,” Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said Monday.
O’Toole said the government needs to stop flights from all hot-spot countries and consider shutting down all international flights for a period to get the importation of cases and variants under control.
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Figures released by the Public Health Agency of Canada to the Toronto Sun show that from Feb. 22-April 23, 168,887 air travellers were tested with 3,158 registering positive for COVID-19.
That works out to 1.9% of all air travellers testing positive when they land, but that does not include those who tested positive afterward.
“Someone can bring back a lot more than just some memories,” Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer, said of air passengers. Williams said he is very concerned about the entry of variants into the country.
“I don’t think in my mind that the system is as solid as it should be,” Williams said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has downplayed the threat of new cases or variants entering the country via travel, despite also instituting a ban on flights from India and Pakistan.
“The vast majority of our cases are variants of concern that have originated in other countries,” said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario’s associate medical officer.
“So, the fact that 2% are directly travel-related, of course, is important, but it doesn’t represent the burden of illness that’s associated with international travel.”
Back in December, shortly after banning flights from the U.K. for a period as the variant from that country was appearing in Canada, the Trudeau Liberals used the same line, that international travel was not an issue. Yet as Yaffe pointed out, 75% of the cases in Ontario now are the B.1.1.7 variant first discovered in the U.K.
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Travel matters, the question is what to do about it.
Dr. Vivek Goel, a health researcher and member of the national COVID-19 Immunity Task Force said travel is tricky because reacting to hot spots means you are already behind the curve. Still, learning that over the past two months, 1.9% of passengers arriving in Canada are testing positive does leave him worried.
“What concerns me with that number, this is amongst the people who should have had a negative test in the three days before the flight,” Goel said.
He added the testing and quarantine program that the federal government has instituted is not working properly.
“If the rest of the quarantine program was working as it should, then I would say the risk of introduction would be really small,” Goel said.
He added while stopping all travel would be difficult, fixing the program, including testing and quarantine, would be the easier measure.
We have lots of holes in the system, from fake PCR tests that people purchase before boarding a flight to Canada, to people spending their “quarantine” in a house full of people who are going to work and school.
The Trudeau government said we have among the “most stringent measures” but the truth is something else completely.
The PM has for too long put votes above action, and now we are all paying for it.
LILLEY: Trudeau downplays threat as more COVID-infected travellers arrive
When Air Canada Flight 1255 from Kingston, Jamaica, to Toronto touched down last Friday afternoon, there was at least one COVID-positive passenger on board.
Say ...just take the vaccine already!!!!!
Like the POLIO VACCINE these 98 MILLION people got back in the day.Cancer risk associated with simian virus 40 contaminated polio vaccine
Results: Our analysis indicates increased rates of ependymomas (37%), osteogenic sarcomas (26%), other bone tumors (34%) and mesothelioma (90%) among those in the exposed as compared to the unexposed birth cohort.
Conclusions: These data suggest that there may be an increased incidence of certain cancers among the 98 million persons exposed to contaminated polio vaccine in the U.S.; further investigations are clearly justified.
Cancer risk associated with simian virus 40 contaminated polio vaccine - PubMed
These data suggest that there may be an increased incidence of certain cancers among the 98 million persons exposed to contaminated polio vaccine in the U.S.; further investigations are clearly justified.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
whaddya know...PUBMED, the epitome of quality medical publishing the doctors read.
Sad...
A SAT of 78% is nowhere NEAR good for anyone and yet he thinks this is stable. That says to me at least where he was at before was worse than that.
I'm not. Google Matt Cardinal. Quite the story there. He is being heard. You'll like what he is saying.
Scroll through the COVID-19 thread and you'll find me posting about him before he hit the news.
Scroll through the COVID-19 thread and you'll find me posting about him before he hit the news.
That people are coming out with dealing with Covid who are/were normally healthy is being a 'poster child'? Heaven forbid they actually want people to take it seriously?
That was my point, which you obviously missed, again. Take your sarcasm about 'poster children' and stuff it somewhere.
BRAUN: Frontline health workers experiencing COVID burnout
Author of the article:Liz Braun
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 14 hours ago • 2 minute read • 6 Comments
Nurses at Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa, April 28, 2020.
Nurses at Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa, April 28, 2020. PHOTO BY JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia Network
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There is more worrying news about nurses leaving the profession.
Following a tip that more than a dozen ICU nurses recently quit in Brampton, we asked Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), for an update.
Brampton, of course, is where 13-year-old Emily Victoria Viegas died of COVID five days ago, a tragedy, said a weary Grinspun, who added “that finished all of us.”
Nurses are indeed leaving, but the province already had a shortage of registered nurses long before COVID struck.
“We have the worst RN-to-population ratio in all of Canada. We’ve been sounding the alarm about this since (former PC premier) Mike Harris’ time in office,” said Grinspun.
“So it’s not surprising we don’t have enough intensive-care-unit nurses now when we need them — ICU nurses are all RNs.”
Given the current exodus of nurses from the system, it is crucial to bring the RN numbers in Ontario up to the national level.
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Working on the front lines right now is heartbreaking for all health workers, said Grinspun, and it’s not just because of the wave of suffering and death they witness daily.
“It’s the lack of support they’re getting.”
Yes, more ICU nurses will now be brought in from other jurisdictions, but the transition must be seamless. That, said Grinspun, is up to the hospital or organization to attend to. “Don’t leave it to the ICU nurses to be constantly training others.”
Nurses aren’t part of the housekeeping staff, either.
In the current crisis, “nurses need to be attending to critical care. They are heroically taking care of patients who are critically ill, but they are not being put at the centre of care,” Grinspun said.
Nurses and doctors must be front and centre, with other staff around them doing their jobs properly, or everyone gets stretched far past their limit.
“Doctors are also physically and emotionally exhausted. They feel betrayed by the government, and they feel not enough has been done to stop the influx of people into the ICUs,” Grinspun said.
Premier Doug Ford announced he would soon have the best program in the country for paid sick days, said Grinspun. “We’re still waiting.”
Paid sick leave, strategic vaccinations, and cutting all non-essential services are key, she added. “Or the variants will catch up more and more, and we will have a fourth wave.
“I don’t think anyone can sustain a fourth wave because of the failure of action on public health measures,” Grinspun said.
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Everything must be done to control this virus, “which is looking for a host,” she said.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Protesters in front of the College of Nurses of Ontario building on Davenport Ave in Toronto on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
BRAUN: Ontario nurses claim they have been muzzled by college
A respiratory therapist checks a COVID-19 patient inside the intensive care unit of Humber River Hospital in Toronto, April 15, 2021.
Future nurses, doctors want lessons from pandemic to create better health-care system
A registered pharmacist technician fills the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine at a vaccine clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, December 15, 2020.
All hands on deck at Toronto vaccine clinic where student nurses help out
“The first casualties were 80% in nursing homes, and now it will rapidly be in other populations — put the vaccinations there! The first two waves were ageist. The third is racist,” she said.
“We are doing the worst in the country, and our politicians just keep holding more and more cabinet meetings. It’s infuriating.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Liz Braun
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 14 hours ago • 2 minute read • 6 Comments
Nurses at Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa, April 28, 2020.
Nurses at Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa, April 28, 2020. PHOTO BY JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia Network
Article content
There is more worrying news about nurses leaving the profession.
Following a tip that more than a dozen ICU nurses recently quit in Brampton, we asked Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), for an update.
Brampton, of course, is where 13-year-old Emily Victoria Viegas died of COVID five days ago, a tragedy, said a weary Grinspun, who added “that finished all of us.”
Nurses are indeed leaving, but the province already had a shortage of registered nurses long before COVID struck.
“We have the worst RN-to-population ratio in all of Canada. We’ve been sounding the alarm about this since (former PC premier) Mike Harris’ time in office,” said Grinspun.
“So it’s not surprising we don’t have enough intensive-care-unit nurses now when we need them — ICU nurses are all RNs.”
Given the current exodus of nurses from the system, it is crucial to bring the RN numbers in Ontario up to the national level.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
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Article content
Working on the front lines right now is heartbreaking for all health workers, said Grinspun, and it’s not just because of the wave of suffering and death they witness daily.
“It’s the lack of support they’re getting.”
Yes, more ICU nurses will now be brought in from other jurisdictions, but the transition must be seamless. That, said Grinspun, is up to the hospital or organization to attend to. “Don’t leave it to the ICU nurses to be constantly training others.”
Nurses aren’t part of the housekeeping staff, either.
In the current crisis, “nurses need to be attending to critical care. They are heroically taking care of patients who are critically ill, but they are not being put at the centre of care,” Grinspun said.
Nurses and doctors must be front and centre, with other staff around them doing their jobs properly, or everyone gets stretched far past their limit.
“Doctors are also physically and emotionally exhausted. They feel betrayed by the government, and they feel not enough has been done to stop the influx of people into the ICUs,” Grinspun said.
Premier Doug Ford announced he would soon have the best program in the country for paid sick days, said Grinspun. “We’re still waiting.”
Paid sick leave, strategic vaccinations, and cutting all non-essential services are key, she added. “Or the variants will catch up more and more, and we will have a fourth wave.
“I don’t think anyone can sustain a fourth wave because of the failure of action on public health measures,” Grinspun said.
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Everything must be done to control this virus, “which is looking for a host,” she said.
Protesters in front of the College of Nurses of Ontario building on Davenport Ave in Toronto on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
BRAUN: Ontario nurses claim they have been muzzled by college
A respiratory therapist checks a COVID-19 patient inside the intensive care unit of Humber River Hospital in Toronto, April 15, 2021.
Future nurses, doctors want lessons from pandemic to create better health-care system
A registered pharmacist technician fills the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine at a vaccine clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, December 15, 2020.
All hands on deck at Toronto vaccine clinic where student nurses help out
“The first casualties were 80% in nursing homes, and now it will rapidly be in other populations — put the vaccinations there! The first two waves were ageist. The third is racist,” she said.
“We are doing the worst in the country, and our politicians just keep holding more and more cabinet meetings. It’s infuriating.”
BRAUN: Frontline health workers experiencing COVID burnout
There is more worrying news about nurses leaving the profession.
LEVY: Ontario LTC homes still a disaster
'This is a cry for help ... a cry for change'
Author of the article:Sue-Ann Levy
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 3 minute read • 21 Comments
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces were called in to help at Pickering's Orchard Villa long-term care home on May 6, 2020.
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces were called in to help at Pickering's Orchard Villa long-term care home on May 6, 2020. PHOTO BY VERONICA HENRI /TORONTO SUN
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Janice Codeluppi couldn’t hold back the tears as she spoke of the impact of personal support worker (PSW) shortages in her mom’s GTA long-term care (LTC) home in the past year.
She said in her mom’s unit, there are 32 beds with only two PSWs at a time to look after 12-16 residents.
As a result of the shortages, she said, her 87-year-old mom Joan Arbuckle fell in the night last December and “lay screaming for help for two hours.”
When she was taken to hospital for a broken pelvis, it was discovered she was “severely dehydrated,” Codeluppi said, one of several speakers Tuesday during a virtual cross-Canada protest calling for national standards in LTC care.
While in the hospital, Arbuckle caught COVID-19 and her daughter said she was told to “stop her medications and let her die.”
She spent Christmas all alone, Codeluppi added.
But she recovered and after seven weeks she was returned to the LTC home.
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Joan Arbuckle. HANDOUT PHOTO
Joan Arbuckle. HANDOUT PHOTO
“She’s afraid to be left alone, afraid of the numerous changes in her caregivers, afraid of the tests,” she said, weeping.
“This is a cry for help … a cry for change.”
Codeluppi said it’s been a year since the first wave of COVID and residents continue to live in terrible conditions, waiting for help to be transferred from their wheelchairs to their beds, to be bathed, and to be fed.
She said many have no radios, no televisions while they sit in their rooms for months at a time.
“It’s so inhumane,” she said. “I’m not looking for an apology … I want change.”
Speaker after speaker with loved ones in Ontario LTC homes spoke about the staff shortages and the dire need for staff.
Betty Yakimenko, whose mom is in an Ottawa LTC home, says she’s come into the home to find her mom “sitting in her own waste for hours” at a time.
She said at a monthly town hall they’re assured by the home that there is enough staff but she sees there’s not.
Vivian Stamatopoulos, an associate teaching professor at Ontario Tech University and an advocate for LTC residents, called the last year the “worst mass casualty” in Canada, one in which 3,917 LTC residents in Ontario have succumbed to the pandemic to date.
Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, labelled “all the emoting, all the tears” seen from the premier and other politicians in press conferences “political theatre.”
She said promises have never been fulfilled, comprehensive inspections of homes have been cancelled, and not one home has lost its license –not even the very worst ones where dozens of residents died due to COVID, negligence, and malnutrition.
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“The plan was to vaccinate long-term residents and let it (the LTC issues) fall back into obscurity,” she charged.
She said staffing is even worse than before the pandemic and now the province wants to offload 1,500 hospital patients into homes where there are beds.
Mehra insisted homes have gotten a “windfall” — having been paid for empty beds but never having hired the requisite staff with that money.
“It’s outrageous,” she said.
She argued the offload can’t happen unless the staffing levels are brought up to par.
“We’re extremely concerned,” she said.
But Rob McMahon, a spokesperson for the long-term care ministry, said Ontario’s health-care system is “facing unprecedented challenges” that call for “immediate, collective action.”
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
People demonstrate in support of the well-being of long-term care home residents outside of Kennedy Lodge Long Term Care Home in the Scarborough area in Toronto.
LEVY: An annus horribilus for those in long-term care homes
Minister of Long-term Care Merrilee Fullerton in Ottawa for an announcement Oct. 30, 2020.
LEVY: LTC Minister grilled by commission following COVID deaths of 3,700 seniors
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces walk in front of Pickering's Orchard Villa long-term care home on May 6, 2020.
LEVY: Most of LTC residents vaccinated but 936 died waiting
He said the ministry issued a written call to action on April 11 to “do everything they can” over the next two weeks to “safely admit or readmit hospitalized patients” waiting for a space in an LTC home.
He insisted the off-loading will occur in homes that have the necessary staff to accommodate these moves “without compromising the care” of current residents.
SLevy@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
'This is a cry for help ... a cry for change'
Author of the article:Sue-Ann Levy
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 3 minute read • 21 Comments
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces were called in to help at Pickering's Orchard Villa long-term care home on May 6, 2020.
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces were called in to help at Pickering's Orchard Villa long-term care home on May 6, 2020. PHOTO BY VERONICA HENRI /TORONTO SUN
Article content
Janice Codeluppi couldn’t hold back the tears as she spoke of the impact of personal support worker (PSW) shortages in her mom’s GTA long-term care (LTC) home in the past year.
She said in her mom’s unit, there are 32 beds with only two PSWs at a time to look after 12-16 residents.
As a result of the shortages, she said, her 87-year-old mom Joan Arbuckle fell in the night last December and “lay screaming for help for two hours.”
When she was taken to hospital for a broken pelvis, it was discovered she was “severely dehydrated,” Codeluppi said, one of several speakers Tuesday during a virtual cross-Canada protest calling for national standards in LTC care.
While in the hospital, Arbuckle caught COVID-19 and her daughter said she was told to “stop her medications and let her die.”
She spent Christmas all alone, Codeluppi added.
But she recovered and after seven weeks she was returned to the LTC home.
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Joan Arbuckle. HANDOUT PHOTO
Joan Arbuckle. HANDOUT PHOTO
“She’s afraid to be left alone, afraid of the numerous changes in her caregivers, afraid of the tests,” she said, weeping.
“This is a cry for help … a cry for change.”
Codeluppi said it’s been a year since the first wave of COVID and residents continue to live in terrible conditions, waiting for help to be transferred from their wheelchairs to their beds, to be bathed, and to be fed.
She said many have no radios, no televisions while they sit in their rooms for months at a time.
“It’s so inhumane,” she said. “I’m not looking for an apology … I want change.”
Speaker after speaker with loved ones in Ontario LTC homes spoke about the staff shortages and the dire need for staff.
Betty Yakimenko, whose mom is in an Ottawa LTC home, says she’s come into the home to find her mom “sitting in her own waste for hours” at a time.
She said at a monthly town hall they’re assured by the home that there is enough staff but she sees there’s not.
Vivian Stamatopoulos, an associate teaching professor at Ontario Tech University and an advocate for LTC residents, called the last year the “worst mass casualty” in Canada, one in which 3,917 LTC residents in Ontario have succumbed to the pandemic to date.
Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, labelled “all the emoting, all the tears” seen from the premier and other politicians in press conferences “political theatre.”
She said promises have never been fulfilled, comprehensive inspections of homes have been cancelled, and not one home has lost its license –not even the very worst ones where dozens of residents died due to COVID, negligence, and malnutrition.
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“The plan was to vaccinate long-term residents and let it (the LTC issues) fall back into obscurity,” she charged.
She said staffing is even worse than before the pandemic and now the province wants to offload 1,500 hospital patients into homes where there are beds.
Mehra insisted homes have gotten a “windfall” — having been paid for empty beds but never having hired the requisite staff with that money.
“It’s outrageous,” she said.
She argued the offload can’t happen unless the staffing levels are brought up to par.
“We’re extremely concerned,” she said.
But Rob McMahon, a spokesperson for the long-term care ministry, said Ontario’s health-care system is “facing unprecedented challenges” that call for “immediate, collective action.”
People demonstrate in support of the well-being of long-term care home residents outside of Kennedy Lodge Long Term Care Home in the Scarborough area in Toronto.
LEVY: An annus horribilus for those in long-term care homes
Minister of Long-term Care Merrilee Fullerton in Ottawa for an announcement Oct. 30, 2020.
LEVY: LTC Minister grilled by commission following COVID deaths of 3,700 seniors
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces walk in front of Pickering's Orchard Villa long-term care home on May 6, 2020.
LEVY: Most of LTC residents vaccinated but 936 died waiting
He said the ministry issued a written call to action on April 11 to “do everything they can” over the next two weeks to “safely admit or readmit hospitalized patients” waiting for a space in an LTC home.
He insisted the off-loading will occur in homes that have the necessary staff to accommodate these moves “without compromising the care” of current residents.
SLevy@postmedia.com
LEVY: Ontario LTC homes still a disaster
Janice Codeluppi couldn't hold back the tears.
TO LIVE OR DIE: Waves of COVID reality hit Toronto's paramedics
Struggling to keep up with Toronto's third wave, city paramedics say they're having to 'triage' cardiac arrest patients
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 12 hours ago • 4 minute read • 34 Comments
Paramedics wheel a patient into the emergency department at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021.
Paramedics wheel a patient into the emergency department at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. PHOTO BY COLE BURSTON /The Canadian Press
Article content
As soon as the call clears, another one’s loaded and ready.
And these days, it’ll most likely be another COVID patient.
That’s the reality for Toronto’s paramedics, who say nobody among their ranks thought COVID-19’s third wave would be this bad.
“You just don’t believe the news, the news says hospitals are overwhelmed, but are they?” said a veteran Toronto advanced-care paramedic, whom the Toronto Sun agreed not to identify.
“From the horse’s mouth: we’re seeing it — that’s something we’re all now realizing.”
While Toronto’s professional lifesavers have indeed been busy this past year, he told the Sun things really started to get bad earlier this month.
In fact, he remembers the exact call.
“Honestly, it was three weeks ago,” he said, describing the short-of-breath 30-something male he and his partner were dispatched to assist.
“This guy had a fever and couldn’t get up, and we’re like, ‘Oh, damn,'” he recalled.
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“He had a room-air sat of 50%.”
Patients with blood-oxygen levels that low are almost always unconscious. In fact, anything below 90% is cause for concern.
Called “silent hypoxia,” it’s one of this pandemic’s biggest medical mysteries: how patients with such dangerously low oxygen levels show little outward evidence of their dire condition.
“They don’t even look tired,” he said.
“Then you check them and realize … ‘Dude, really?! You don’t feel this?! We need to go to the hospital.'”
It’s this deceptive pathology that makes COVID such a challenge.
“It causes moments where the patient looks OK, but they’re actually really, really bad,” he said, adding those patients often crash quickly and catastrophically.
What sticks out the most are the ages — and a lack of comorbidities — of those going into the back of his ambulance.
“Waves one and two were elderly people,” he said.
“Now we’re averaging late 40s.”
What irks him and his co-workers most are those who dismiss COVID as a bad flu.
“Influenza doesn’t make your O2 (oxygen) saturation drop below your age,” he said.
“We’re seeing patients with oxygen levels not seen without opioids in play, and neither Narcan nor oxygen are going to fix it.”
Emergency rooms and ICUs are full, he said — with many receiving care in the ER normally seen in intensive care.
“That’s what overcapacity means,” he said.
“It means that there’s people in emerge receiving ICU treatment — and that’s not the place for it.”
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MORE ON THIS TOPIC
A paramedic transports a patient to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, April 17, 2020.
City Council orders check-up on Toronto paramedics
Erik Sande is the president of Medavie Health Services.
SANDE: Paramedics answer the call -- across Ontario's health system
A Region of Durham Paramedic Services ambulance.
Durham Paramedics demand 'action' for 'disgusting' assaults
Gravely-ill patients more likely to be pronounced dead at scene
As city hospitals steel themselves for worst-case triage protocols, paramedics say it’s a reality they’re already experiencing.
Overrun emergency rooms and intensive-care units put paramedics in the position — as well as the base physicians overseeing them — of having to pronounce gravely ill patients, particularly in cases of cardiac arrest, deceased on scene rather than going through the usually hopeless motions of seeking hospital treatment.
“I haven’t actively run a cardiac arrest in the past five I’ve done,” said the Toronto advanced-care paramedic.
“We just said to the family, ‘Do you want anything done?’”
Cardiac arrest, particularly in older patients, is a dire medical emergency with less than 10% survival rates, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
The COVID emergency, the paramedic said, means they’re more likely to pronounce such patients dead over pursuing lifesaving efforts that only serve to prolong the inevitable.
Except in cases of obvious and catastrophic trauma, paramedics seek guidance on pronouncing death from physicians over the phone.
“I got a pronouncement in 20 seconds the other day,” the paramedic said.
The alternative, he said, is often worse.
“If you get them back, where are they going to go, into the ICU to live for a day on a vent and die?” he said.
“The family’s able to see them now, be with them — there’s no closure bringing (the patient) to the hospital where, oh by the way, they can’t come.”
This leads to paramedics forced into end-of-life discussions with grieving family members.
“You know who does those? Doctors. Doctors have those conversations,” he said.
“Now, it’s us.”
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Experts, including outspoken critical care physician Dr. Michael Warner, are warning Toronto’s hospitals are just days away from ICU triage, where decisions are made on who is and isn’t entitled to lifesaving care.
“The way Dr. Warner’s talking about how we don’t want to have to triage ICU patients, we are now triaging cardiac arrest patients,” the paramedic said. “If bringing this person back or giving them hope means only living for one more day on a ventilator … man, no. Let them go.”
Families forced to make this decision, he said, are almost always grateful.
“They say ‘Thank you for not working on them, thank you for letting them pass as peacefully as possible,” he said.
“Then you walk out, do your paperwork, grab a coffee, then go on to the next one.”
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @bryanpassifiume
torontosun.com
Struggling to keep up with Toronto's third wave, city paramedics say they're having to 'triage' cardiac arrest patients
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 12 hours ago • 4 minute read • 34 Comments
Paramedics wheel a patient into the emergency department at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021.
Paramedics wheel a patient into the emergency department at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. PHOTO BY COLE BURSTON /The Canadian Press
Article content
As soon as the call clears, another one’s loaded and ready.
And these days, it’ll most likely be another COVID patient.
That’s the reality for Toronto’s paramedics, who say nobody among their ranks thought COVID-19’s third wave would be this bad.
“You just don’t believe the news, the news says hospitals are overwhelmed, but are they?” said a veteran Toronto advanced-care paramedic, whom the Toronto Sun agreed not to identify.
“From the horse’s mouth: we’re seeing it — that’s something we’re all now realizing.”
While Toronto’s professional lifesavers have indeed been busy this past year, he told the Sun things really started to get bad earlier this month.
In fact, he remembers the exact call.
“Honestly, it was three weeks ago,” he said, describing the short-of-breath 30-something male he and his partner were dispatched to assist.
“This guy had a fever and couldn’t get up, and we’re like, ‘Oh, damn,'” he recalled.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“He had a room-air sat of 50%.”
Patients with blood-oxygen levels that low are almost always unconscious. In fact, anything below 90% is cause for concern.
Called “silent hypoxia,” it’s one of this pandemic’s biggest medical mysteries: how patients with such dangerously low oxygen levels show little outward evidence of their dire condition.
“They don’t even look tired,” he said.
“Then you check them and realize … ‘Dude, really?! You don’t feel this?! We need to go to the hospital.'”
It’s this deceptive pathology that makes COVID such a challenge.
“It causes moments where the patient looks OK, but they’re actually really, really bad,” he said, adding those patients often crash quickly and catastrophically.
What sticks out the most are the ages — and a lack of comorbidities — of those going into the back of his ambulance.
“Waves one and two were elderly people,” he said.
“Now we’re averaging late 40s.”
What irks him and his co-workers most are those who dismiss COVID as a bad flu.
“Influenza doesn’t make your O2 (oxygen) saturation drop below your age,” he said.
“We’re seeing patients with oxygen levels not seen without opioids in play, and neither Narcan nor oxygen are going to fix it.”
Emergency rooms and ICUs are full, he said — with many receiving care in the ER normally seen in intensive care.
“That’s what overcapacity means,” he said.
“It means that there’s people in emerge receiving ICU treatment — and that’s not the place for it.”
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STORY CONTINUES BELOW
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Article content
A paramedic transports a patient to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, April 17, 2020.
City Council orders check-up on Toronto paramedics
Erik Sande is the president of Medavie Health Services.
SANDE: Paramedics answer the call -- across Ontario's health system
A Region of Durham Paramedic Services ambulance.
Durham Paramedics demand 'action' for 'disgusting' assaults
Gravely-ill patients more likely to be pronounced dead at scene
As city hospitals steel themselves for worst-case triage protocols, paramedics say it’s a reality they’re already experiencing.
Overrun emergency rooms and intensive-care units put paramedics in the position — as well as the base physicians overseeing them — of having to pronounce gravely ill patients, particularly in cases of cardiac arrest, deceased on scene rather than going through the usually hopeless motions of seeking hospital treatment.
“I haven’t actively run a cardiac arrest in the past five I’ve done,” said the Toronto advanced-care paramedic.
“We just said to the family, ‘Do you want anything done?’”
Cardiac arrest, particularly in older patients, is a dire medical emergency with less than 10% survival rates, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
The COVID emergency, the paramedic said, means they’re more likely to pronounce such patients dead over pursuing lifesaving efforts that only serve to prolong the inevitable.
Except in cases of obvious and catastrophic trauma, paramedics seek guidance on pronouncing death from physicians over the phone.
“I got a pronouncement in 20 seconds the other day,” the paramedic said.
The alternative, he said, is often worse.
“If you get them back, where are they going to go, into the ICU to live for a day on a vent and die?” he said.
“The family’s able to see them now, be with them — there’s no closure bringing (the patient) to the hospital where, oh by the way, they can’t come.”
This leads to paramedics forced into end-of-life discussions with grieving family members.
“You know who does those? Doctors. Doctors have those conversations,” he said.
“Now, it’s us.”
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Experts, including outspoken critical care physician Dr. Michael Warner, are warning Toronto’s hospitals are just days away from ICU triage, where decisions are made on who is and isn’t entitled to lifesaving care.
“The way Dr. Warner’s talking about how we don’t want to have to triage ICU patients, we are now triaging cardiac arrest patients,” the paramedic said. “If bringing this person back or giving them hope means only living for one more day on a ventilator … man, no. Let them go.”
Families forced to make this decision, he said, are almost always grateful.
“They say ‘Thank you for not working on them, thank you for letting them pass as peacefully as possible,” he said.
“Then you walk out, do your paperwork, grab a coffee, then go on to the next one.”
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @bryanpassifiume
TO LIVE OR DIE: Waves of COVID reality hit Toronto's paramedics
Struggling to keep up with Toronto's third wave, city paramedics say they're having to 'triage' cardiac arrest patients
More charges laid in connection with Aylmer Church of God service
Author of the article:Free Press staff
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 23 hours ago • 1 minute read • 16 Comments
The Church of God, in Aylmer, shown in this April 2020 photo. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)
The Church of God, in Aylmer, shown in this April 2020 photo. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)
Article content
Six people, including one from London, face new charges in connection with a large service at Aylmer’s Church of God on Sunday, the town’s police said Tuesday.
Officers responded to the John St. North church about 10:30 a.m. Sunday after receiving more than a dozen complaints about the service.
Glenn Close says Oscars twerking 'was completely spontaneous'
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A “large number of participants” entered the church for the service in direct violation of COVID-19 rules set by the province that cap religious services at 10 people, police said.
The people facing charges under the Ontario Reopening Act are:
a 57-year-old man from Aylmer
a 26-year-old man from Aylmer
a 60-year-old man from Pelham
a 63-year-old man from Perth
a 36-year-old man from Stirling
a 38-year-old woman from London
The new charges come a day after Aylmer police charged several people in connection with the service.
A 20-year-old from Perth East Township is charged with obstructing police.
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A 48-year-old man from Perth East Township was also charged with assault after a man charged at a reporter in an aggressive manner, police said.
A 52-year-old woman from Shakespeare, wanted on an arrest warrant for obstructing police, also turned herself in, Aylmer police said.
Among the people at Sunday’s service were anti-lockdown activists MPP Randy Hillier, MP Derek Sloan, and neonatal nurse Kristen Nagle, who was fired by London Health Sciences Centre in January after helping organize a November rally in Victoria Park.
The Church of God and its leader, Pastor Henry Hildebrandt, have made headlines since the start of the pandemic for defying government measures designed to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Just last week, four people, including two Toronto police officers, were also charged following a gathering at the church, Aylmer police said.
Individuals found in violation of health regulations can face a minimum fine of $750. Those who host parties or gatherings can face a maximum fine of $10,000 upon conviction.
lfpress.com
lfpress.com
lfpress.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Free Press staff
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 23 hours ago • 1 minute read • 16 Comments
The Church of God, in Aylmer, shown in this April 2020 photo. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)
The Church of God, in Aylmer, shown in this April 2020 photo. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)
Article content
Six people, including one from London, face new charges in connection with a large service at Aylmer’s Church of God on Sunday, the town’s police said Tuesday.
Officers responded to the John St. North church about 10:30 a.m. Sunday after receiving more than a dozen complaints about the service.
Glenn Close says Oscars twerking 'was completely spontaneous'
Close sticky video
Trackerdslogo
A “large number of participants” entered the church for the service in direct violation of COVID-19 rules set by the province that cap religious services at 10 people, police said.
The people facing charges under the Ontario Reopening Act are:
a 57-year-old man from Aylmer
a 26-year-old man from Aylmer
a 60-year-old man from Pelham
a 63-year-old man from Perth
a 36-year-old man from Stirling
a 38-year-old woman from London
The new charges come a day after Aylmer police charged several people in connection with the service.
A 20-year-old from Perth East Township is charged with obstructing police.
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A 48-year-old man from Perth East Township was also charged with assault after a man charged at a reporter in an aggressive manner, police said.
A 52-year-old woman from Shakespeare, wanted on an arrest warrant for obstructing police, also turned herself in, Aylmer police said.
Among the people at Sunday’s service were anti-lockdown activists MPP Randy Hillier, MP Derek Sloan, and neonatal nurse Kristen Nagle, who was fired by London Health Sciences Centre in January after helping organize a November rally in Victoria Park.
The Church of God and its leader, Pastor Henry Hildebrandt, have made headlines since the start of the pandemic for defying government measures designed to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Just last week, four people, including two Toronto police officers, were also charged following a gathering at the church, Aylmer police said.
Individuals found in violation of health regulations can face a minimum fine of $750. Those who host parties or gatherings can face a maximum fine of $10,000 upon conviction.
Toronto cops among those charged in Aylmer Church of God gathering
Two of the four people charged following a gathering this week at Aylmer’s Church of God are Toronto police officers, Aylmer police say.
Sims: Aylmer journalist recounts churchgoer charging him 'like a bull'
I think some folks just want to make trouble for trouble’s sake.
More charges expected after 'large' Sunday service at Aylmer church
Aylmer Police are expecting to lay charges for violations of Ontario’s emergency orders after a Sunday service at the Church of God.
More charges laid in connection with Aylmer Church of God service
Six people, including one from London, face new charges in connection with a large service at Aylmer’s Church of God on Sunday, the town’s police said Tuesday.
LILLEY: COVID shows the need to revamp Ontario's health system
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 14 hours ago • 3 minute read • 43 Comments
Our hospitals are over capacity, our ICUs are being tested, the military has been called in once again and we’re seeking help from other provinces.
Our hospitals are over capacity, our ICUs are being tested, the military has been called in once again and we’re seeking help from other provinces. PHOTO BY FILE /Getty Images
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Our hospitals are over capacity, our ICUs are being tested, the military has been called in once again and we’re seeking help from other provinces.
The mess that Ontario is in right now is directly due to the effects of COVID-19 but the underlying condition for our health system is years of governments cutting hospital beds and capacity.
How can a province of 14.7 million see its entire hospital system overwhelmed and surgeries cancelled due to a few hundred people in our intensive care units?
In reality, what we are dealing with now is an exacerbation of the problem we used to call “hallway health care.” That issue was front and centre in the last election and something Doug Ford and the PCs were elected to fix.
Tragically, that never happened before COVID hit.
Right now, Ontario has the fewest acute-care beds per capita of any province in the country and is tied with Mexico, the lowest ranking country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. At 1.4 beds for every 1,000 people, Ontario is well below the national average of two beds per 1,000 people.
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When it comes to ICU beds, we’re at about half the rate of most American states.
The number of hospital beds has fallen dramatically across the country — throughout the developing world, in fact — since the 1970s. Forty years ago, Canada had 6.9 beds per 1,000 people, a figure that had fallen to 3.69 by 2001 and continues to fall.
Part of this is due to changes in treatment and technology over the decades but part of it is simply due to governments cutting funding or not growing the system with the population.
“Since 1999, overall bed capacity has been virtually constant, although the population has increased by 27%,” the Ontario Hospital Association said in a recent report.
The result is that Ontario doesn’t have the bed capacity it needs to handle surges, something we see on a smaller scale each year during flu season.
“It’s been a high stakes game of chicken between an aging population and attempts to tame an ever-growing health care budget. Eventually, it was going to end badly, and with the COVID case surge, it has,” said one frontline doctor who asked not to be named.
The long-term solution for this problem is obviously to build more hospital beds, something the province is doing with projects such as the expansion of the Peel Memorial Centre in Brampton into a full hospital and a new, larger mega-hospital in Windsor.
Adding beds isn’t enough, though, because of ongoing and persistent problems in the system. According to the Ontario Hospital Association, there were 5,372 people in hospital beds that needed an alternate level of care (ALC) that was not available.
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These patients, representing 17% of all hospital beds, needed a space in a long-term care facility but couldn’t get one; they needed home care that wasn’t available.
They needed some level of care but didn’t need an acute care hospital bed. The number of ALC patients only increased during COVID because they couldn’t be transferred to long-term care facilities.
Making sure that Ontario has enough acute-care and ICU beds will also mean taking a lot of steps, some of which the government has already started on.
That includes making sure that there are enough long-term care beds built and ensuring hospitals have transitional care facilities attached to them for people who need minimal care but can’t quite go home.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax is not revenue neutral as his government originally claimed, writes Lorrie Goldstein.
LILLEY: Trudeau downplays threat as more COVID-infected travellers arrive
International arrivals at Toronto's Pearson airport.
LILLEY: If Pearson was treated like Amazon, it would be closed
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and Premier Doug Ford
LILLEY: Ford correct to say Trudeau's border measures don't go far enough
It will also include fully implementing recently announced changes to how paramedics can treat patients without always bringing them to an emergency room and continuing the expansion of mental health and addiction services and even the ramping up of dental care for seniors.
None of these measures are overnight fixes. They will take time, but they are vital for fixing our health-care system for the long term and for the next pandemic.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 14 hours ago • 3 minute read • 43 Comments
Our hospitals are over capacity, our ICUs are being tested, the military has been called in once again and we’re seeking help from other provinces.
Our hospitals are over capacity, our ICUs are being tested, the military has been called in once again and we’re seeking help from other provinces. PHOTO BY FILE /Getty Images
Article content
Our hospitals are over capacity, our ICUs are being tested, the military has been called in once again and we’re seeking help from other provinces.
The mess that Ontario is in right now is directly due to the effects of COVID-19 but the underlying condition for our health system is years of governments cutting hospital beds and capacity.
How can a province of 14.7 million see its entire hospital system overwhelmed and surgeries cancelled due to a few hundred people in our intensive care units?
In reality, what we are dealing with now is an exacerbation of the problem we used to call “hallway health care.” That issue was front and centre in the last election and something Doug Ford and the PCs were elected to fix.
Tragically, that never happened before COVID hit.
Right now, Ontario has the fewest acute-care beds per capita of any province in the country and is tied with Mexico, the lowest ranking country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. At 1.4 beds for every 1,000 people, Ontario is well below the national average of two beds per 1,000 people.
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When it comes to ICU beds, we’re at about half the rate of most American states.
The number of hospital beds has fallen dramatically across the country — throughout the developing world, in fact — since the 1970s. Forty years ago, Canada had 6.9 beds per 1,000 people, a figure that had fallen to 3.69 by 2001 and continues to fall.
Part of this is due to changes in treatment and technology over the decades but part of it is simply due to governments cutting funding or not growing the system with the population.
“Since 1999, overall bed capacity has been virtually constant, although the population has increased by 27%,” the Ontario Hospital Association said in a recent report.
The result is that Ontario doesn’t have the bed capacity it needs to handle surges, something we see on a smaller scale each year during flu season.
“It’s been a high stakes game of chicken between an aging population and attempts to tame an ever-growing health care budget. Eventually, it was going to end badly, and with the COVID case surge, it has,” said one frontline doctor who asked not to be named.
The long-term solution for this problem is obviously to build more hospital beds, something the province is doing with projects such as the expansion of the Peel Memorial Centre in Brampton into a full hospital and a new, larger mega-hospital in Windsor.
Adding beds isn’t enough, though, because of ongoing and persistent problems in the system. According to the Ontario Hospital Association, there were 5,372 people in hospital beds that needed an alternate level of care (ALC) that was not available.
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These patients, representing 17% of all hospital beds, needed a space in a long-term care facility but couldn’t get one; they needed home care that wasn’t available.
They needed some level of care but didn’t need an acute care hospital bed. The number of ALC patients only increased during COVID because they couldn’t be transferred to long-term care facilities.
Making sure that Ontario has enough acute-care and ICU beds will also mean taking a lot of steps, some of which the government has already started on.
That includes making sure that there are enough long-term care beds built and ensuring hospitals have transitional care facilities attached to them for people who need minimal care but can’t quite go home.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax is not revenue neutral as his government originally claimed, writes Lorrie Goldstein.
LILLEY: Trudeau downplays threat as more COVID-infected travellers arrive
International arrivals at Toronto's Pearson airport.
LILLEY: If Pearson was treated like Amazon, it would be closed
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and Premier Doug Ford
LILLEY: Ford correct to say Trudeau's border measures don't go far enough
It will also include fully implementing recently announced changes to how paramedics can treat patients without always bringing them to an emergency room and continuing the expansion of mental health and addiction services and even the ramping up of dental care for seniors.
None of these measures are overnight fixes. They will take time, but they are vital for fixing our health-care system for the long term and for the next pandemic.
LILLEY: COVID shows the need to revamp Ontario's health system
Our hospitals are over capacity, our ICUs are being tested ... and we’re seeking help from other provinces.
LILLEY: Trudeau plays politics with worker sick leave
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 3 minute read • 86 Comments
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pictured at an April 13, 2021 press conference in Ottawa.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pictured at an April 13, 2021 press conference in Ottawa. PHOTO BY REUTERS /Toronto Sun
Article content
On Tuesday afternoon, the Trudeau government decided to play politics using Canadians suffering in the middle of the pandemic as pawns. There’s a good chance it backfired because their moves simply don’t look good.
After two weeks of bad headlines on Canada’s slow vaccine rollout and variants coming into the country due to lax border controls, the Trudeau government decided that they had to change the channel.
In response to a request from the Ford government to alter the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ontario needs its own program and employers should pay.
“The best paid sick leave is that that goes through employers,” Trudeau said, adding that Ontario should do just that.
Currently, only Quebec and P.E.I. offer employer-paid sick days. Quebec offers two paid sick days per year while P.E.I. mandates one after five years with the same company.
At the beginning of the pandemic, premiers asked the federal government to administer a program, through the E.I. system, that would allow workers who needed to stay home or self-isolate due to COVID-19 to do so.
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The CRSB offers $500 per week, for up to four weeks. It’s the same level of pay offered to those who lose their jobs due to COVID-19 shutdowns.
Critics, though, claimed it wasn’t enough and workers had to wait too long to get a payment. Last week, Premier Doug Ford said he would look to fill in the gaps in the federal program.
That promise resulted in an offer to the federal government from Ontario – double the payments for workers in Ontario and the province will cover the difference. Given the federal program is up and running and deposits directly to bank accounts, this would be the quickest way to get money to workers who need it.
“We’re willing to pay 100% of the cost to double this program, to make it retroactive for 60 days, and get cheques out the door as quickly as possible,” Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said.
While initially the feds sounded like they would try to work something out with the province, that quickly went south.
“When Ontario is ready to mandate sick leave in provincially regulated businesses, as we have done for federally regulated businesses, we will be there to help,” Katherine Cuplinskas, spokesperson for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told CBC.
That kind of program, though, would take months, if not years, to design and implement at the best of times.
Legislation would need to be drafted, debated, passed; regulations would need to be put in place and businesses would need to be given time to prepare for the changes. By that time, we hope to be done with the pandemic.
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This is about politics and nothing else.
If this were about helping workers in the pandemic, then the Trudeau Liberals would have jumped at Ford’s offer. That they didn’t tells you this is about something else.
It’s also no surprise that the feds are now pushing this in B.C. and Alberta where it hasn’t been much of an issue for the governments of Premier John Horgan and Jason Kenney.
The federal plan was originally set up as 10 paid sick days, the equivalent of two weeks work, and then extended to 20 days. No business can afford to give 20 paid sick days to their workers on top of paid vacation and other benefits.
“The vast majority of small firms do not have paid sick leave and the vast majority cannot afford a paid sick leave,” said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax is not revenue neutral as his government originally claimed, writes Lorrie Goldstein.
LILLEY: Trudeau downplays threat as more COVID-infected travellers arrive
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is inoculated with AstraZeneca's vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a pharmacy in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Friday, April 23, 2021.
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None
LILLEY UNLEASHED: Trudeau's COVID failures, lies a political epidemic
That may be true, but it isn’t Trudeau’s concern right now.
Changing the channel from the bad news stories plaguing his government is what he’s worried about and if that means small businesses need to pay a bill they can’t afford for years to come, that’s just fine with him.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Apr 27, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 3 minute read • 86 Comments
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pictured at an April 13, 2021 press conference in Ottawa.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pictured at an April 13, 2021 press conference in Ottawa. PHOTO BY REUTERS /Toronto Sun
Article content
On Tuesday afternoon, the Trudeau government decided to play politics using Canadians suffering in the middle of the pandemic as pawns. There’s a good chance it backfired because their moves simply don’t look good.
After two weeks of bad headlines on Canada’s slow vaccine rollout and variants coming into the country due to lax border controls, the Trudeau government decided that they had to change the channel.
In response to a request from the Ford government to alter the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ontario needs its own program and employers should pay.
“The best paid sick leave is that that goes through employers,” Trudeau said, adding that Ontario should do just that.
Currently, only Quebec and P.E.I. offer employer-paid sick days. Quebec offers two paid sick days per year while P.E.I. mandates one after five years with the same company.
At the beginning of the pandemic, premiers asked the federal government to administer a program, through the E.I. system, that would allow workers who needed to stay home or self-isolate due to COVID-19 to do so.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
The CRSB offers $500 per week, for up to four weeks. It’s the same level of pay offered to those who lose their jobs due to COVID-19 shutdowns.
Critics, though, claimed it wasn’t enough and workers had to wait too long to get a payment. Last week, Premier Doug Ford said he would look to fill in the gaps in the federal program.
That promise resulted in an offer to the federal government from Ontario – double the payments for workers in Ontario and the province will cover the difference. Given the federal program is up and running and deposits directly to bank accounts, this would be the quickest way to get money to workers who need it.
“We’re willing to pay 100% of the cost to double this program, to make it retroactive for 60 days, and get cheques out the door as quickly as possible,” Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said.
While initially the feds sounded like they would try to work something out with the province, that quickly went south.
“When Ontario is ready to mandate sick leave in provincially regulated businesses, as we have done for federally regulated businesses, we will be there to help,” Katherine Cuplinskas, spokesperson for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told CBC.
That kind of program, though, would take months, if not years, to design and implement at the best of times.
Legislation would need to be drafted, debated, passed; regulations would need to be put in place and businesses would need to be given time to prepare for the changes. By that time, we hope to be done with the pandemic.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
This is about politics and nothing else.
If this were about helping workers in the pandemic, then the Trudeau Liberals would have jumped at Ford’s offer. That they didn’t tells you this is about something else.
It’s also no surprise that the feds are now pushing this in B.C. and Alberta where it hasn’t been much of an issue for the governments of Premier John Horgan and Jason Kenney.
The federal plan was originally set up as 10 paid sick days, the equivalent of two weeks work, and then extended to 20 days. No business can afford to give 20 paid sick days to their workers on top of paid vacation and other benefits.
“The vast majority of small firms do not have paid sick leave and the vast majority cannot afford a paid sick leave,” said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax is not revenue neutral as his government originally claimed, writes Lorrie Goldstein.
LILLEY: Trudeau downplays threat as more COVID-infected travellers arrive
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is inoculated with AstraZeneca's vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a pharmacy in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Friday, April 23, 2021.
LILLEY: Trudeau has failed at every turn during COVID despite his claims to the contrary
None
LILLEY UNLEASHED: Trudeau's COVID failures, lies a political epidemic
That may be true, but it isn’t Trudeau’s concern right now.
Changing the channel from the bad news stories plaguing his government is what he’s worried about and if that means small businesses need to pay a bill they can’t afford for years to come, that’s just fine with him.
LILLEY: Trudeau plays politics with worker sick leave
On Tuesday afternoon, the Trudeau government decided to play politics using Canadians suffering in the middle of the pandemic as pawns.