Medical professionals must have paid sick time

Ontario has failed to follow the lead of other provinces in granting isolation benefits

“Paid sick leave is extremely important. If someone has to choose between providing for their family or going to work when sick, they’ll likely go in and may infect others.” — Dr. Thomas Frieden, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Premier Doug Ford made the very difficult decision to lock down the entire province on Dec. 26. This will result in a major toll on the livelihoods of residents of this province, as well as their mental health. He should therefore consider all other mitigating measures so that this will be as short as possible.

Incoming CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Wolensky has advised we need to “limit our mobility.” Although the COVID-19 positivity rate is only 1.4 per cent in Ottawa, versus 4.7 per cent provincewide, Ford has included Ottawa — at least temporarily — in the 28-day lockdown for fear that large numbers of Quebecers would cross the river and patronize Ottawa stores and restaurants. Yet he ignores that many already work, or seek hospital or physician care in that city, and yet the infection rate remains low.

Ford is rightly concerned about the need to better monitor visitors to Canada, and, with the new UK mutant coronavirus in Quebec, Ottawa, Durham Region, Alberta, and Vancouver Island, we should possibly close our borders temporarily. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair maintains that only 1.8 per cent of cases are related to travel. However, some 3.4 to 3.8 per cent of Toronto cases are felt to be related to international travel; by early September, 11.5 per cent were travel-related.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown has advocated for isolation centres and paid sick leave. Toronto, Peel and Ottawa are indeed setting up these centres (as are Edmonton and Calgary).

Yet for unknown reasons, Ontario has failed to follow the lead of most other provinces in granting pandemic isolation benefits to physicians, nurses, and other health professionals.

Under the heading, “Protecting Frontline Health Care Workers” in the recent Ontario budget was mention of $1.1 billion already spent on personal protective equipment, but there was not one word about financial protection for health providers who were forced to self-isolate due to COVID-19 or who contracted the disease. The Ontario Ministry of Health has still refused to engage in discussions with the OMA around “sick pay” for physicians.

Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland asserted last August, “We need people to stay home when they are unwell. Otherwise we will have another huge outbreak.” Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath has repeatedly called for paid sick leave.

Her counterpart, Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley has also urged her province to grant paid sick leave for health workers forced into isolation. She stresses the new Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit provides only $450 per week after taxes. Of interest is that recently the Alberta government has pledged an additional $625 after a 14-day period of quarantine.

Yet even this is an inadequate amount to replace the lost incomes of physicians, most nurses, and many other health professionals. If they are to be deterred from working, more funding is required. Ottawa should assist by increasing Canada Health Transfer payments to the provinces and territories.

Most MDs are self-employed, rely on private insurance, but those over age 65 cannot qualify, and in addition, there is often a waiting period of at least 14 days. British Columbia physicians are covered by a special quarantine benefit from day one of isolation. There has been similar coverage for doctors in the Yukon and until recently all but three other provinces.

In early December, even Manitoba agreed. This leaves Alberta and Ontario as the only two provinces that have ignored the financial needs of their physicians.

Recently some 900 health workers at the Mayo Clinic and 1,000 at the Cleveland Clinic were infected with COVID-19.

Health providers account for 20 per cent of COVID-19 cases in Canada — twice the global average.

As Dr. Frieden stated a few months ago, one way of reducing the hazard of the pandemic was by “ensuring that all hospitals and nursing home staffs have paid sick leave, so that there is no economic incentive to work while ill.”

On the cover of the May 23, 2020, issue of The Lancet were these words: “When the pandemic has ended, we cannot allow a return to the status quo ante. We must ensure that essential workers can do their jobs safely, and that they have adequate health care and paid sick leave to safeguard their health beyond extraordinary pandemics.”

A small amount of vaccine will be available in the next few weeks, but this will have little immediate effect on the spread of the pandemic.

Premiers Doug Ford and Jason Kenney should heed the advice of Drs. Frieden and Wolensky, the editors of The Lancet, and NDP leaders in Ontario and Alberta, and agree as soon as possible to provide adequate paid sick benefits for their physicians, nurses, and other health professionals.

This may help reduce the likelihood of extended lockdowns and tighter restrictions in other regions.