Member Update: COVID-19-November 17th

Dear ,

We continue to press the government to on the topic of RPN wages. This week, as part of our ongoing advocacy, we shared a new letter to Premier Ford and Minister Elliott that highlights the voices and experiences of nurses. Read our letter here.

Upcoming Online Events
Tonight at 8PM- Join us for our Facebook Live. Tune in on our Facebook page at facebook.com/wearepracticalnurses

Tomorrow- Wednesday, November 18th, at 7PM- Practical Nursing Student Funding Webinar: This webinar will cover various awards and scholarship opportunities available to practical nursing students and RPNs who have continued their education. It will also cover tips, deadlines, and criteria required to apply for the various awards. You will also get the chance to listen to a previous successful award applicant, who will provide you with added information regarding the awards. Register here.

Key Provincial Updates and Resources for Health Professionals
Today, the government announced it is providing over $37 million to significantly expand mental health services across the justice system. The funding will be used to expand mobile crisis teams across the province, hire additional staff, and support the creation of tailored programs for First Nations communities. This is part of the government's $176 million investment this year in the Roadmap to Wellness, Ontario's plan to build a comprehensive and connected mental health and addictions system.

Yesterday, the government announced the establishment of Supply Ontario, a centralized procurement agency for the Government of Ontario. According to Premier Ford, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic clearly demonstrated the gaps in Ontario’s previous procurement process. Throughout the second and subsequent waves, Supply Ontario will ensure that frontline health care and other workers continue to have access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical supplies.

In response to questions about Ontario’s plan for distributing and storing COVID-19 vaccines, once available, Minister Elliott shared that a team within the Ministry of Health is working on a distribution plan, so that the government is prepared once a vaccine as available. The team includes logistical experts focused on transportation, as well as ethicists to ensure that the vaccine is distributed fairly and equitably.

The government also announceda strategy to prevent COVID-19 within the province’s agri-food sector, and to protect workers and the food supply ahead of the 2021 growing season. The strategy, Prevention, Control and Outbreak Support Strategy for COVID-19 in Ontario’s Farm Workers, includes guiding principles on how to ensure enhanced prevention and control in farm operations, farm worker safety and wellness, and maintaining the sustainability and viability of the agri-food sector. Actions related to prevention and containment are grouped into three pillars, including actions to be take before getting to the farm, on the farm, and within farm worker housing.

Last Friday, the government announced an update to the province’s COVID-19 response framework, Keeping Ontario Safe and Open. The update is in response to the new modelling released yesterday and the recent rapid increase in cases of COVID-19. Specifically, the government is lowering the thresholds for each level in the framework, and by doing so, is moving additional public health units into the Yellow – Protect, Orange – Restrict, and Red – Control levels.

The criteria for categorizing a public health unit at the Red – Control level (the final level before a lockdown) now includes:

A weekly incidence rate of greater than or equal to 40 cases for 100,000 population;
A percent positivity rate of greater than or equal to 2.5% among all COVID-19 tests conducted;
A reproductive number of greater than or equal to 1.2, meaning that, on average, every COVID-19-positive individual will transmit the virus to 1.2 or more other people.

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

Key Federal Updates

Last week, the Federal government announced the details of an investment of $1.5 billion in the Workforce Development Agreements (WDAs) with provinces and territories. This investment will help Canadians in underrepresented groups and those in sectors that have been hardest hit by the pandemic – such as construction, transportation, and hospitality – quickly access supports to re-enter the workforce. It could include skills training, on-the-job training, employer-sponsored training, financial assistance and benefits, employment counselling and services, and job opportunities. This funding is in addition to the $3.4 billion provided to provinces and territories in 2020-21 under the WDAs and Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs).

Canada's Chief Medical Officer of Health's statement for Nov 16th is available here

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

Daily Reports

As of 10:30AM today, Ontario reported 96,745 confirmed cases (increase of 1249),
80,430 resolved cases, 3,383 deaths and 25,435 currently under investigation with lab results pending.

The Ministry is also reporting that 529 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, 127 are in ICU and 75 are vented. To view these additional details: click here

Click Here to read the latest Ministry of Health Daily Report

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:

WeRPN's Job Board
The Provincial Government recruitment portal and match them with opportunities.
The Ontario Long Term Care Association job matching program

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