One of the country’s top arbitrators has been asked to settle a pandemic-related grievance filed by Almonte General Hospital health care workers, who want N95 respirators made available to them.
The hospital now issues N95 masks only to staff involved in aerosol-generating medical procedures, such as intubations.
Comments closedMandatory public masking has been saving lives and leading to an earlier (and safer) reopening of societies around the world. Despite this, Canadian officials have been reticent to support this cheap, effective measure.
As of May 12, 13 U.S. states, including Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, and 84 countries, including Israel, Germany, Austria, Czechia and France, have laws mandating public masking. And zero Canadian jurisdictions.
Comments closedAt least two provinces have bowed to union pressure to let some health professionals use specialized respirator face masks when treating COVID-19 patients, sparking concern among infection-control experts this will undermine health workers’ trust in their advice.
Alberta and Ontario have reached agreements with unions to allow some health-care workers to use N95 respirator masks if they feel it is necessary. Nova Scotia’s largest nursing union is now calling on provincial officials to do the same.
Comments closedMillions of face masks stockpiled by Ontario in the aftermath of the SARS outbreak to protect healthcare workers during a future epidemic have expired, according to provincial officials and documents, raising questions about the readiness of Canada’s most populous province to deal with the spreading coronavirus.
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