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Important updates on Ontario's response to COVID-19
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Member Update:
COVID-19 Situation- May 7th
Dear ,

Today, we received some additional information about the government's plans for pandemic day.

The Ontario government launched a new website on pandemic pay. It can be accessed here.  There are several noteworthy points for RPNs:
  • If your sector is eligible, you'll receive the $4/hr increase from your employer.
  • If you work at least 100 hours in a designated 4-week period, you will also be eligible to receive an additional lump sum payment of $250 for that period. The designated 4-week periods are:
    • April 24, 2020 to May 21, 2020
    • May 22, 2020 to June 18, 2020
    • June 19, 2020 to July 16, 2020
    • July 17, 2020 to August 13, 2020
  • The temporary hourly pandemic pay and lump sum payments are non-pensionable earnings, are not part of an employee’s base salary & have no impact on benefits paid by employers
  • The $4 hourly top-up and lump sum payment eligibility only apply to the hours you actually work (not vacation, authorized paid leave, etc)

Right now, it's not clear exactly when this pay will flow to RPNs. The government is in the process of getting in touch with employers and says they aim to do that by May 15th. We would expect the funding for the $4/hr funding to flow around that time. The lump sum payments may take some additional time to process. We will keep you posted on any updates we receive.

Key Provincial Updates and Resources for Health Professionals
Today the Ontario government released plans to resume scheduled surgeries and procedures. The government framework, A Measured Approach to Planning for Surgeries and Procedures During the COVID-19 Pandemic, contains clear criteria that must be met before hospitals can resume scheduled surgeries, including ensuring that the hospital and its region have the following:
    • A stable number of COVID-19 cases;
    • A stable supply of personal protective equipment;
    • A stable supply of medications;
    • An adequate capacity of inpatient and intensive care unit beds;
    • An adequate capacity of health human resources; and
    • The availability of post-acute care outside the hospital that would be required to support patients after discharge.

Ontario has also announced that they will begin collecting race-based data during coronavirus pandemic.

For more information, we encourage you to visit the Ministry of Health and Public Health Ontario website

Key Federal Updates
The Federal government announced that it had reached an agreement with the provinces on sharing the cost of pandemic pay. This formalizes the government commitment to provide funding to the provinces to cover 75% of pandemic pay.

For more information, we encourage you to visit the Government of Canada website.

Daily Reports
As of 10:30AM today, Ontario reported 19,121 confirmed cases (increase of 399), 13,569 resolved cases, 1,477 deaths and 13,012 currently under investigation with lab results pending.

The Ministry is also reporting that 1,033 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, 220 are in ICU and 155 are vented. To view these additional details: click here

Click Here
to 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:
Urgent Jobs During COVID-19
RPNs seeking opportunities to support COVID efforts can find postings on the following sites:

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

905.602.4664
info@werpn.com


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