‘I was shocked’: Ontario to cancel widely used wastewater surveillance program

Published June 4, 2024

Published by: Ottawa Citizen
Published on: June 4, 2024
By Elizabeth Payne

The Ontario government is shutting down the wastewater surveillance program that has provided early warning for incoming waves of COVID-19 and a growing list of other infectious diseases since it was developed.

By the time it ends on July 31, the program that got its start in Ottawa early in the pandemic will be one of the biggest in the world to monitor the spread of infectious diseases through wastewater. Researchers were told of the decision to end funding last week.

Its closure comes at a time when COVID-19 is again beginning to spread through the world after a lull and when the United States and other countries are ramping up wastewater surveillance programs to warn about the possible spread of H5N1 avian influenza.

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Ontario

Ontario will need tens of thousands of nurses and PSWs by 2032: document

Published May 13, 2024

Published by: Global News / The Canadian Press
Published on: May 13, 2024
By Allison Jones

Ontario will need 33,200 more nurses and 50,853 more personal support workers by 2032, the government projects — figures it tried to keep secret but were obtained by The Canadian Press.

The government recently won a fight in front of the Information and Privacy Commissioner to keep those figures under wraps after denying access to them to Global News following a freedom-of-information request from the outlet.

But the same FOI office made the information available to The Canadian Press through a separate request, a situation critics say exposes the frailties and arbitrariness of the access-to-information system.

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Ontario

Family doctor group calls for Ontario health minister’s resignation over ‘slap in the face’ comments

Published May 10, 2024

Published by: Ottawa Citizen
Published on: May 10, 2024
By Elizabeth Payne

The Union of Family Physicians of Ontario (OUFP) is calling for the resignation of Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones after the Ministry of Health suggested recruitment and retention of doctors in Ontario is “not a major concern.”

The group said the comments from the ministry are “insensitive and dangerous” during a period in which family medicine is in crisis.

The ministry made the argument as part of arbitration with the Ontario Medical Association over physician compensation.

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Ontario

“Short-sighted and dangerous” – Public Health Ontario Lab workers are sounding the alarm about potential lab closures

Published April 17, 2024

Published by: Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO)
Published on: April 17, 2024

TORONTO, April 17, 2024 – OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick and members working at Public Health Ontario (PHO) Labs were at Queen’s Park today to sound the alarm about the potential closure of six (6) out of 11 PHO labs in Ontario, and the risk it poses for all Ontarians – especially rural families and communities.

“If the last few years have taught us anything, it is that public health should never be taken for granted,” said Hornick. “Like many choices made by this government, if Premier Ford decides to shutter the doors of these 6 labs it will be short-sighted and dangerous.”

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Tag: Ontario government