Today, Ontario unveiled the province's Framework for Reopening our Province. While no timelines have been provided, the government is planning a staged approach to reopening the economy to ensure there are appropriate measures in place so workplaces can open safely. The stages include:
Stage 1:
opening select workplaces that can meet current public health guidelines
allowing essential gatherings of a limited number of people
opening some outdoor spaces
continued protections for vulnerable populations
Stage 2
opening more workplaces with significant mitigation plans
opening more public spaces
allowing some larger public gatherings
continued protections for vulnerable populations
Stage 3
opening all workplaces responsibly
relaxing restrictions on public gatherings
continued protections for vulnerable populations
The Chief Medical Officer of Health and health experts will advise the government on when it may begin to ease public health measures using a range of criteria, including:
a consistent two-to-four week decrease in the number of new daily COVID‑19 cases
sufficient acute and critical care capacity, including access to ventilators and ongoing availability of personal protective equipment
approximately 90% of new COVID‑19 contacts are being reached by local public health officials within one day, with guidance and direction to contain community spread
ongoing testing of suspected COVID‑19 cases, especially of vulnerable populations, to detect new outbreaks quickly
Facebook Live: Tomorrow at 8pm
We're looking forward to our weekly engagement with many of you on Facebook live tomorrow evening. Tune in at facebook.com/wearepracticalnurses to connect with other RPNs and ask your questions.
Nursing Chats In celebration of Nursing week, donnerwheeler is hosting Nursing Chats once a week in May via Zoom, a forum for nurses and nursing students to come together to tell their stories and talk about their experiences in this pandemic. This gathering will be a space to exchange stories and ideas and to support one another in this challenging time.
The chats will take place May 6, 13, 20 or 27 from 7:45-9pm. If you are interested in participating, please email Mary Wheeler at mary@donnerwheeler.com and briefly describe where you work, your current role in the pandemic, and if it different from your role prior to the pandemic. Also identify why you are interested in participating in nursing chats? If you are a student, identify your year.
Donnerwheeler will be selecting 5 nurses per week so that there will be adequate time to be heard. Depending on the response, one week will be dedicated to students. We also have the capacity for others to observe the chat live. The conversations will be recorded and posted on our website so other can listen.
Key Provincial Updates and Resources for Health Professionals
Over the weekend, Ontario announced that it is supporting frontline staff on the COVID-19 outbreak with pandemic pay. The government will provide pandemic pay of $4/hour worked on top of regular wages. In addition, the government will be providing monthly lump sum payments of $250 for four months to eligible frontline workers who work over 100 hours per month. We are awaiting additional details about the roll out and will let RPNs know as soon as that information is available. To date, the government has stated that the top up would apply to
the following health sectors:
Acute hospitals
Long-term care homes (including private, municipal and not-for-profit homes)
Licensed retirement homes
Home and community care
The Government also issued new emergency orders and amended some existing emergency orders to better support Ontario's long-term care homes and
the deafblind community.
On Sunday, the Minister of Education announced today that all publicly-funded schools will remain closed until at least May 31, 2020, as part of an effort to keep students, staff and families safe from COVID-19.
The Government has also updated the following documents:
Key Federal Updates Today the Federal Government announced that applications for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy are now open.
On the weekend, the Prime Minister announceda new Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund to help Canada’s fish and seafood processing sector
For more information, we encourage you to visit theGovernment of Canada website.
Daily Reports
As of 10:30AM today, Ontario reported 14,856confirmed cases (increase of 424), 8,525 resolved cases, 892 deaths and 5,001 currently under investigation with lab results pending.
The Ministry is also reporting that 945 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, 241 are in ICU and 191 are vented. To view these additional details: click here Click Hereto read the latest Ministry of Health Daily Report **Please note, these reports are intended for health professionals only and we request that you not share this with the public.
World Health Organization Situation Reports are also available here
In the News For an interactive map tracking all cases across Canada and internationally, click here
Below are some key stories from today that may be of interest to our members:
We encourage RPNs looking for employment opportunities to sign up on all the platforms noted above.
We will continue to monitor this situation and keep you updated as more information becomes available. Thank you for the important work that you're doing and the sacrifices you're making to keep Ontarians safe. We appreciate everything that you're doing each and every day.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact Tiff Blair at tblair@werpn.com
Sincerely,
WeRPN Team
WeRPN 5025 Orbitor Drive Building 5, Suite 200 Mississauga, Ontario L4W 4Y5
