Stay-home restrictions: Use `best judgment,' Ford says
“The message is very, very clear. Stay home. That's it. Stay home,” Premier Doug Ford told Ontarians preparing for the implementation of an order, unprecedented in the lifetimes of many, that they remain in their houses save for “essential” reasons that permit venturing out.
wThe two-word sentiment behind the order may well be crystal clear to much of the population: Stay home to help reduce the spread of a disease that's killing people and threatening access to critical care in Ontario hospitals.
But the province has elected — understandably — to leave room for exceptions to this order. In this grey area, people have been grasping for clarity despite Ford's instance Wednesday that, “There is no confusion here. It's very simple.”
A look at social media responses to Ford's announcement of the stay-at-home order is a case in point.
“I am confused. I can't leave my home, but can have a social gathering outside of five people?” one Twitter user questioned.
“Why are non-essential stores allowed to be open if nobody is allowed out for non-essential purposes?” another asked.
The premier's office released a list of FAQs on Wednesday to address these and other common queries.
Non-essential curbside pickup is allowed because not every Ontarian has easy access to a big-box store or online retail, and what's essential will vary from person to person.
The five-person outdoor gathering limit is intended for those who live alone and might need outside support. (But according to the Office of the Solicitor General, you can gather outdoors in groups of up to five for “essential purposes,” such as exercise, that will be outlined in the stay-at-home order.)
“I know that essential means different things to different people. We have 15 million people in Ontario, each with their own individual circumstances, so we need everyone to use their best judgment. If you're not sure if a trip is absolutely essential, it probably isn't,” Ford said.
Eric Kennedy, an assistant professor of disaster and emergency management at York University, agrees it's difficult to create a one-size-fits-all rule determining what's essential and what isn't. But clarity and consistency are important in emergency communications, and when these are lacking in guidelines, it fosters “this problematic tendency to think that you are above average in what you're doing, without having any barometer to judge against,” Kennedy said.
For one person, following the stay-at-home order might mean not getting their computer serviced because they consider it non-essential, he said. For someone else, abiding by the order could including curbside pickup of a gadget order at Best Buy because the store's open, so it must be OK.
“When you lay out really unclear guidelines that say, `You cannot leave for (non)-essential reasons, but here are a bunch of non-essential things that are open,' you've given so much room there for anyone to interpret what they're doing as complying with the guidelines,” Kennedy said.
Justin Presseau, a scientist in the clinical epidemiology program at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and associate professor at the University of Ottawa's school of psychology, tweeted that, “To avoid confusion, effective communication of changes in pandemic policies and announcements should ideally be provided in actionable terms, clearly indicating which behaviours folks can/ shouldn't/can't do, who, when, where, and for how long.”
Presseau also noted the importance of being clear about what had changed compared to previous recommendations in terms of permissible behaviour and added, “An FAQ and examples of different ways to enact the recommendations applied to different life circumstances would also likely help clarify, enhance actionability and foster trust.”
Even with some inconsistencies in messaging, said infectious-diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch, the stay-at-home order and other measures announced — among them the five-person outdoor gathering cap, and extended school closures in hot spots — might be enough to help get case numbers under control. But this question, and others, can't yet be answered definitively.
Will the enforcement approach be enough of a deterrent to ensure compliance? Possibly, Bogoch said.
The province is giving the OPP, local police, bylaw officers and provincial workplace inspectors the power to ticket for non-compliance with the stay-at-home order and Ford has warned “it will be enforced.”
Another question is whether the additional workplace measures outlined by the province will be enough to help reduce transmission among those still going in to work. On this, Bogoch is less optimistic.
“I think taking that leap to paid sick leave, even throughout the course of the pandemic, might have been a more useful addition. But that step wasn't taken.”
Dr. Doug Manuel, a physician and senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital, says he's optimistic the new approach by the province will start to generate the desired response, at least locally.
Ottawa flattened its COVID-19 curve in the fall with remarkable speed, and “I think our sense, collectively, when I've talked to people (is that) we're pretty good at following what's suggested to us. We recognize the importance of that,” he said.
I think taking that leap to paid sick leave ... might have been a more useful addition. But that step wasn't taken.