Time to take responsibility
I am dismayed, baffled and, now, angry, that so many are disregarding COVID-19 safety measures. It’s time to stop the soft sell and start demanding that people be responsible.
Every time I go out for essentials (wearing a mask and a face shield), I have at least one encounter with someone who isn’t safely distancing or wearing a mask.
Do you not get it? People are dying! You are being irresponsible and selfish and putting others at risk, all because you’re either ignorant of the consequences of your behaviour or you just don’t give a damn.
Sharron Ross, Mississauga
Re Ford deserves credit, but Baber’s opinions
have support, Arthur, Jan. 15 Vaccinating long-term-care residents while opening up the rest of the province is just the latest spin on a tactic the COVID-19-deniers have been using since March.
Their idea is that we can somehow keep COVID-19 away from those most at risk while it runs rampant through the rest of the population.
Our lack of success at keeping COVID-19 away from even the fewer than one per cent of people who are in LTC homes shows such a tactic is unworkable.
Despite the dismal prospects, many still act as if it was a reasonable plan. We see this not just at anti-mask rallies, but also in the numbers of people who regard their overseas vacations as essential.
The result is that we are still in a lockdown with a rising death toll, taking consolation in the fact that things are worse south of the border, where Baber’s ideas are often policy.
Gary Dale, West Hill
Re Workers need sick-leave plan they can rely on, Bardeesy, Jan. 17
I do not understand why Premier Doug Ford refuses to budge in providing or legislating paid sick leave.
He says he wants to do anything to help slow the spread of COVID-19. But still no paid sick leave.
Most essential workers do not have paid sick leave with their employers, and their wages are already on the low side. They cannot afford missing a day of work without pay, be it to be tested or if they feel sick. So they go to work and could easily spread the virus in the workplace. And then we have community outbreaks.
Alberto Sarthou, Toronto
Re Don’t blame the workers, Editorial, Jan. 15
I was pleased to read of your support for terminating the Ford government’s established loophole endangering the lives of residents and employees in long-term care.
The government has continued to allow temp workers to take shifts in multiple facilities to ensure “a steady supply of staff.” We know that allowing people to work in multiple facilities is a vector for the spread of COVID-19.
A far better way to ensure a stable and caring staff to care for vulnerable people is to provide “full-time jobs with decent pay, benefits and working conditions,” as the editorial states. It can be done, and has been done in other provinces.
Allan Baker, Scarborough
Re Ford’s dissenters don’t get how politics work,
Cohn, Jan. 16
Although I do understand the need to have a united front of leadership, as Martin Regg Cohn suggests, it is important to let Premier Doug Ford understand that we, the public, are not pleased with his leadership.
If a report card were to be issued regarding his handling of the pandemic, he would receive low grades except for his new “folksy” demeanour. Sadly, I think too many people see this as a quality worthy of their support, rather than exploring the substance of his deeds.
David Ottenbrite, Cambridge, Ont.
Re Support staff at long-term sites are still
waiting for $3 pay hike, Jan. 16
The minister of long-term care must do more than just demand the three-percent raise be paid to personal support workers and other staff working long and exhausting hours in our LTC homes be paid.
The money to cover the cost of this wage increase was given to private LTC companies by the government in October. If those companies have not given the increase to the workers, then they should be charged with fraud.
Bruce Compton, Pickering
Re Elder care needs overhaul, Letters, Jan. 16
I have diligently read all the articles about elder care and privately owned long-term-care homes and have become inflamed with anger at the owners and the provincial governments who have failed to do their due diligence.
As an 82-year-old, I’ve now reached the conclusion that I’d much prefer to live out my days in a makeshift shelter under an overpass somewhere as opposed to a privately owned long-termcare home.
Mario Bonifacio, Wasaga Beach, Ont.
Re Ontario reporting 1,913 new COVID-19 cases,
46 more deaths, Jan. 19
It is very shocking to hear that this is the second month in a row where new daily cases have stayed above 1,000.
It is unacceptable that the government didn’t introduce tighter restrictions earlier. I believe a curfew should be set, like in Quebec. This would reduce to number of people who leave their homes at night, which would lead to fewer cases.
Adam Shaikh, Ajax
In 40 years as an occupational therapist, I have found the lack of accountability in LTC homes to be a continuous frustration.
No matter how hard I and the rest of the treatment team worked to provide the patient with the resources to live a meaningful life, we had little confidence that recommendations would ever be carried out in long-term care.
Without clear accountability for individual patient care plans, everything else is moot. Carrying out such recommendations takes time, which our current staff-to-patient ratios in LTC do not allow for.
It can take 30 minutes or more to transfer, ambulate and toilet a frail senior. Shoving a bedpan under a person is much faster.
Safe eating may require proper upright positioning and time for chewing and swallowing small mouthfuls as well as regular mouth care to ensure dentures fit, and so on. Leaving a tray shoved in front of someone half-lying in bed is faster.
Even the most dedicated personal support worker cannot be expected to have all the knowledge to serve their patients best.
Who is responsible in long-term care to make sure each patient is getting the proper individual care they need? Melanie Blake, Mississauga
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