Toronto – Mike Schreiner, MPP for Guelph, made the following comment regarding the second wave of Covid-19 affecting long term care residents and workers:
“The Premiers’s failure to invest in better care and more staff in LTC over the summer is unacceptable.
Stories of neglect, rampant infection rates and the increasing number of deaths break my heart.
The unfunded promise in the budget to provide 4 hours of care per day adds insult to injury. Residents cannot wait 4 years for 4 hours of care.
Testimonies from the long-term care inquiry speak to a broken system that did not have the staff or resources to protect elders or workers in the first wave.
The Government did not make the necessary investments over the summer to prepare LTC homes for the second wave, once again leaving elders vulnerable.
Why was the Premier sitting on $12B in unspent funds over the summer when Ontario could have invested in testing and contact tracing and staff for LTC to reduce virus spread in the second wave?
The cost for this lack of action is simply too high.
Urgent action is needed to increase staffing, pay workers properly and give elders the dignity and care they deserve.”