PSWs to get pay bump until March in effort to `stabilize' workforce
Personal support workers in Ontario will be getting a “much deserved” $3-per-hour pay raise, effective immediately, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Thursday.
The wage boost will be provided to 58,000 eligible PSWs in long-term care, 38,000 in home and community care and 34,000 in children's, community and social services. Some 12,300 PSWs in public hospitals will also get a $2 hourly raise.
“As we enter the second wave of COVID-19, we need to stabilize our PSW workforce. We need to make sure that when our loved ones need care, whether at home, in a hospital, or in a long-term care home, there's a PSW there to support them,” said Ford.
The pay boost will last until March 2021.
At that point, Ford said he'll do everything he can to try to maintain the raise.
“I want to give a special shoutout to all the PSWs today, thank you for everything you do … I absolutely love you guys.”
Ford called the modelling projections released Wednesday that predicted a possible 1,000 daily cases in the first half of October “a wake-up call” and urged Ontarians to stay vigilant and follow public health measures.
On the testing front, Ontario reported on Thursday that while 39,646 tests were completed the day before, nearly 82,500 samples were still in the testing process.
“We are working very diligently to try to reduce the backlog,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott, noting that test samples are only good for three days, after which people would have to be retested.
The province is working to increase lab capacity, including through outreach to universities, which are expected to come on board “very shortly,” she said.
Ottawa Public Health has reported a “sharp increase” in the number of new outbreaks in health and congregate care settings, with 11 more reported last week.
The weekly report shows that 496 cases were recorded from Sept. 21 to 27, which represents a 30 per cent increase from the previous week.
Hospitalizations more than doubled, with 14 new cases admitted last week, while ICU admissions stayed stable.
Of all Ottawa residents who've been diagnosed with COVID-19, seven per cent have been hospitalized, including two per cent who required intensive care.
Meanwhile, Ontario is also making it easier for students with a runny nose, headache or other symptoms commonly associated with an illness that isn't COVID-19 to quickly return to school.
On Thursday, the province released updated screening guidance for children and youth going to school or child care, which families can use to determine if their child should be leaving the house or getting a COVID-19 test.
While a symptom such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath will still mean the child should isolate at home and parents should contact their health-care provider, a child with one of a list of less alarming symptoms, including a stuffy nose or nausea, will only be advised to stay home for 24 hours, and can head back to school without a COVID-19 test if the symptom improves.
Two or more of these secondary
symptoms would require immediate self-isolation, and contact with a health-care provider is recommended.