Federal leaders join rally at LTC home as province hits new high in infections
TORONTO — Two of Canada’s four federal party leaders joined a rally at a Toronto longterm-care home Sunday afternoon to press the provincial government to do more to protect seniors from the ravages of COVID-19.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and the Green party’s Annamie Paul spoke outside St. George’s Care Community, which is in the midst of one of the largest virus outbreaks in Ontario.
Data from the ministry of health shows there are 43 residents and 28 staff members currently infected with COVID-19 at the home. There have been 14 deaths linked to the active outbreak.
Paul said she has a personal connection to the home, adding her father died there during the first wave of the global pandemic.“this is a plea on behalf of every single person who has someone who is still alive in these facilities and every single person who has lost someone in these facilities,” said Paul. “Please help. Please make sure that you follow the recommendations by our experts.”
Singh said the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the flaws of the for-profit model of longterm-care homes.
“Profit has been killing seniors,” he said. “We’re making a very clear demand: we need to get profit out of long-term care.”
Ontario’s COVID-19 case totals continue to surge on Sunday as the province set yet another single-day high for new virus diagnoses. The government reported 3,945 new infections over the past 24 hours, along with 61 more deaths linked to the virus. Health Minister Christine Elliott said there are 1,160 new cases in Toronto, 641 in Peel Region, and 357 in York Region.