Health-care workers need paid sick time

Alberta and Ontario continue to ignore expert advice that will reduce COVID spread

With no domestic production until next year, recent cuts in supply chains, and the risk of export controls by the EU, the vaccination program for Canadians has been poor.

We now rank 35th in the immunization rate per capita. Compounding the problem, we face the spread of mutants, with at least 279 cases of the U.K., 18 of the South African, and one (in Toronto) of the Brazilian variants in Canada. They are more contagious, possibly more lethal, and may be resistant to current vaccines.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Jan. 29 that flights to Mexico and the Caribbean would be cancelled until April 30. International passengers must now take a PCR test on arrival, and then wait in a hotel for three days for the result at a cost of $2,000.

Yet Doug Ford, Jason Kenney, and several other premiers still ignore the greater problem — over which they have some control — of workplace infections.

They should set up additional self-isolation centres, and immediately guarantee paid sick leave to workers especially in essential areas such as health care.

In Canada, as of late July, about 20 per cent of COVID-19 cases were in health workers — double the global average. At least 30 have died. By late January, about 15,000 in Ontario had been infected.

Some 58 per cent of Canadian workers lack adequate sick leave. In the GTA, 65 per cent of workers are deemed “essential.” In Toronto, 90 per cent of low-wage workers lack access to paid sick days. Not surprisingly, a Peel Public Health study found that between August 2020 and January 2021, 25 per cent of workers with potential COVID-19 symptoms and 80 who had tested positive went to work anyway.

In Ottawa, schools have reopened, but “All persons in the household of someone who has COVID-19 symptoms or is in selfisolation are asked to stay home, too.” Yet if they lack sufficient sick leave, will they all really comply?

The new Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit pays $450 per week after taxes for up to two weeks, even to self-employed workers.

Unlike for paid sick days, persons must apply for a payment, it reimburses less than the minimum wage, does not cover those who wish a shorter leave, and payment may take several weeks.

These amounts are still inadequate to replace the lost income of physicians, most nurses, and many other health professionals.

Infection rated are higher in medical doctors than in other health professionals. Yet most physicians are self-employed and rely on private insurance. Those older than age 65 generally cannot qualify. For most, there is a waiting period of at least two weeks. Most British Columbia MDS had been covered (up to age 70) by a government-funded disability plan. Those who were not, for months have been covered for quarantine or COVID-19 illness from day one. The Yukon and most provinces also cover their physicians from Day 1 of self-isolation, although Nova

Scotia cancelled this benefit in early December. Alberta and Ontario have left their physicians financially unprotected throughout the pandemic.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote in August, “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.”

Premier Ford refuses to commit to paid sick days, but recently stated, “We aren’t going to duplicate areas of support,” referring to the CRSB. However, even Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario associate chief medical officer of health, asserted, “That is a very important barrier that needs to be addressed. People need to be supported to do the right thing.”

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland argued last August, “We need people to stay home when they are unwell. Otherwise, we will have another huge outbreak.”

She should also agree to raise the Canada health transfer to the provinces. They in turn should agree to provide adequate pandemic sick benefits to all practicing physicians and for other health professionals, for they are a major potential cause of spread of the virus.

If all premiers act quickly to guarantee their financial protection and mandate adequate paid sick leave for other workers, this may help to reduce the likelihood of prolonged lockdowns with its dire effects on the lives, livelihoods, and mental health of most Canadians.

They should set up additional self-isolation centres, and immediately guarantee paid sick leave to workers especially in essential areas such as health care