(January 26, 2021)<\/p>\n
By: Emma Pauling, Huffpost Canada<\/p>\n
TORONTO \u2014 More than 200 doctors and researchers\u00a0are calling for immediate action<\/a>\u00a0t<\/span>o quell\u00a0COVID-19<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>outbreaks in Ontario\u2019s\u00a0nursing homes<\/a><\/span>, describing current conditions as \u201ca grave humanitarian crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just so appalled by what\u2019s going on,\u201d Dr. Amit Arya, a palliative care physician who works in long-term care in the Greater Toronto Area, told HuffPost Canada. He\u2019s the first signatory to a letter outlining the doctors\u2019 concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have scenarios where people are dying, not just from COVID-19, but are suffering and dying due to abandonment and neglect,\u201d Dr. Arya said. \u201cThere\u2019s scenarios where people are going without food and water and basic hygiene or other aspects that should be non-negotiables.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter says the government\u2019s actions to date \u201care too late, or sometimes, even non-existent.\u201d<\/p>\n Doctors are still seeing poor infection control practices, dwindling staff numbers and a lack of transparency about what\u2019s going on inside homes, the letter says. Residents are experiencing \u201ccontinued abandonment and inhumane conditions,\u201d it says. \u201cThis is a human rights violation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe government has allowed the situation in our [long-term care] LTC homes to become a preventable and recurring crisis in the 2nd wave, with deaths across the entire province.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of Ontario\u2019s 626 homes are run by for-profit companies, but all of them receive government funding and are regulated and inspected by the province.<\/p>\n Nearly\u00a040 per cent of all homes<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>currently have COVID-19 outbreaks. Fifty-seven per cent of Ontario\u2019s COVID-19 deaths \u2014\u00a03,389 people<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u2014 were long-term care residents.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, it\u2019s horrifying,\u201d said Dr. Arya. \u201cThese are not numbers. These are really people. Real human beings with real faces, people who are somebody\u2019s parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. These are people who built the very society we cherish.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Minister of Long-Term Care\u00a0Merrilee Fullerton<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Premier\u00a0Doug Ford<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>said Tuesday it is \u201cunacceptable\u201d that in some cases, residents are still being\u00a0left to sit in their own urine<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re doing everything we can to make sure we put the resources in there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Asked about the doctors\u2019 demand to call back the military into homes, Ford passed the question to the health minister, who said the Red Cross was already helping out.<\/p>\n But advocates\u00a0have pointed out<\/a><\/span>\u00a0that Red Cross volunteers cannot provide actual care for residents.<\/p>\n The last time she took questions from reporters,\u00a0Fullerton said the situation<\/a><\/span>\u00a0was not as bad as the numbers suggest and blamed the opposition NDP for scaring people.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we look at the actual numbers of outbreaks across Ontario, there are a much smaller number of homes that actually have resident cases and then from there a much smaller number of homes that actually have a serious outbreak. And that\u2019s where the energy is going.\u201d<\/p>\n Health advocates and family members of residents\u00a0say the minister is downplaying<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>the situation.<\/p>\n \u201cA growing number of long-term care homes have a significant portion of their residents infected,\u201d the non-partisan advocacy group Ontario Health Coalition\u00a0said on its website Friday<\/a><\/span>. \u201cEven more disturbingly, we have found dozens of homes where the majority of the people who live there have been confirmed to have COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n As of last Tuesday, there were 40 outbreaks where more than half of all residents had COVID-19, the group said.<\/p>\n\u2018Real human beings with real faces\u2019<\/h3>\n
40 outbreaks with more than 50% of residents infected<\/h3>\n