Member Update: COVID-19

Dear ,

We continued to see major announcements and new recommendations emerge today including two provinces declaring a state of emergency. Governments have also committed to investing more to ensure our health system is equipped to handle the impacts of COVID-19. More on that below.

Recruitment of Nurses
As COVID-19 continues to spread, we anticipate a growing demand for nurses to support the ongoing needs of Ontarians. Thank you to all the hundreds of amazing nurses who have signed up already! We very much appreciate you putting your name forward. If you haven't gotten a chance and are interested in offering additional support, please complete this survey

We know the College of Nurses is working quickly to determine how to reinstate registrations for RPN who are retired or non-practicing. Once we have more infromation to share about that process, we will let you know.

Key Updates and Resources for Health Professionals
This morning, the Premier of Ontario declared a state of emergency. This order gives the government additional powers to protect the public during the pandemic, including mandating the province-wide closure of recreation facilities, libraries, licensed child care centres, bars and restaurants, theaters and concert venues.

The government also announced an initial $300M investment to supporting the health sector in responding to COVID-19. Among other measures, this includes:

Increasing capacity in hospitals,
Investing in more testing and screening through public health,
Increasing the supply of personal protective equipment and other critical supplies,
Investing in long term care to support 24/7 screening, additional staffing to support infection control and additional supplies.
Protecting seniors in retirement homes through increased infection control and active screening procedures.
Support transportation costs for health care professionals and the distribution of critical supplies in indigenous communities.

In response, WeRPN, the Canadian Nurses Association and Nurse Practitioner Association of Ontario released an open letter urging the government deploy resources quickly to ensure nurses have access to the protective equipment they need to safely deliver care throughout this crisis. We also called on the government to mandate employers to err on the side of over-protection and the use of precautions against airborne hazards.

Today, Ontario also announced the first potential death related to COVID-19

Across the country, we saw a number of other provinces take action today

This afternoon, the province of Alberta also declared a state of emergency and BC closed their public school.

The Federal government suggested financial help on the way for 'millions of Canadians' to get through COVID-19 crisis with news that the government could be announcing a $25B investment tomorrow. Justin Trudeau also continued to urge Canadians to stay home to help flatten the curve.

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

Daily Reports

As of 10:30AM today, Ontario reported 180 confirmed cases, 5 resolved cases, 1567 currently under investigation with lab results pending.

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.

In the News
Below are some key stories from today that may be of interest to our members:

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