Ontario easing COVID-19 restrictions is ‘threatening people’s lives’: nurses’ union

A union representing nurses in Ontario says the government’s loosening of restrictions is “threatening people’s lives” and has called for stronger measures to be put in place as the province faces a third wave of COVID-19.

The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) said in a statement Saturday that recent government decisions to loosen some dining restrictions, as well as allow personal care services to open, also threaten the province’s health-care system and in-person learning.

“The minister of health has said the next few weeks are critical and she is correct,” RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun said.

“However, at the same time [Health] Minister [Christine] Elliott is warning Ontarians about the dangers variants of the virus pose, the government is issuing contradictory messages by relaxing public health measures designed to protect people’s health. That’s why we are urging Premier Ford to scale back reopening plans.”

On Friday, the province announced that outdoor fitness classes would be able to resume for lockdown zones, with restrictions, beginning on Monday; as of April 12, personal care services will be allowed to open by appointment and at limited capacity.

The province also recently allowed outdoor dining at restaurants in lockdown zones and allowed those in red-control and orange-restrict levels to operate at up to 50 per cent of approved capacity (with a maximum of 50 people and 100 people, respectively) for indoor dining, with physical distancing.

The province also announced Friday it was making changes to its “emergency brake” measure, which allows it to swiftly tighten restrictions on a region.

The change will allow the province’s top doctor, in consultation with a local medical officer of health, to move a region into a “shutdown” with measures similar to those imposed in January, when most retailers closed and only essential services remained open.

“We need to act now to prevent this third wave from being more catastrophic than the second wave,” Grinspun said.

“We know with certainty that the virus variants spread much faster. We also fear it makes people far sicker and can result in much higher rates of death.”

Grinspun said there also needs to be a focus on “redoubling the efforts to rollout vaccines” and containing the virus.

The statement said the government should “strengthen restriction of movement.”

RNAO president Morgan Hoffarth said in the statement that an increased spread of virus variants, combined with a loosening of public health restrictions will likely result in school closures.

“If we continue to put business interests ahead of the education, mental health and wellbeing of children, schools will inevitably be forced to close,” Hoffarth said.

Hoffarth called for more government support for small businesses to “get them through the next few months.”

She also called for primary and home care nurses to be fully utilized in the vaccine rollout.

Global News has reached out to the Ministry of Health for a response to the RNAO statement but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

However, throughout the pandemic, government officials have continuously noted that any decision to ease or implement restrictions is done in consultation with medical experts.

Ontario reported 2,453 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, which was the largest single-day jump in more than two months.

Of those, 814 cases were in Toronto, 411 in Peel Region, 263 in York Region, 156 in Hamilton, and 139 in Durham Region.

Sixteen deaths were also reported, bringing the provincial death toll to 7,308.

Provincial figures showed there are 985 people hospitalized with the virus (up by 72), with 365 in intensive care (up by six).

The province reported 77,740 more COVID-19 vaccine doses administered, bringing the total number of shots given in the province to 1,916,332.

— With files from Jessica Patton and Nick Westoll

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