Because some say Canada needs to do more to protect essential workers until the COVID-19 vaccine arrives

Over 400,000 Canadians have tested positive for coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic and the situation in our worst-hit provinces shows no signs of slowing down.

The percentage of COVID-19 tests across the country that came back positive over the past week has skyrocketed 7.4 percent – from 1.4 percent in mid-September e 4.7 percent early November. An increasing positivity rate can signal that cases are being lost and that more people may unintentionally spread the virus.

“There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but we still have to go through it to get there,” said Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti, an infectious disease specialist at Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga, Ontario.

“Also, you don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you have a wildfire and when you’re trying to throw a vaccine, you’re doing it in an environment where the hospital is overwhelmed and health care workers get sick.”

Alberta’s positivity rate exceeds 10%

Of all COVID hotspots, Alberta has the largest fire to put out at the moment and this week asked the federal government and the Red Cross to provide field hospitals to help offset the strain COVID-19 is having on the healthcare system.

There, the percentage of COVID-19 tests that came back positive hit a surprising one 10.5 percent on Fridays.

COVID-19 cases in Alberta they are growing at such an explosive rate that they have even surpassed Ontario, a province with 10 million more people, for the first time in the pandemic – with cases in Edmonton alone totaling more than those in Toronto and Peel Region together.

“If you think this is a hoax, talk to my friend in the ICU, who is fighting for his life,” Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said Thursday during a live stream on Facebook.

“If you’re thinking of going to an anti-mask rally this weekend, how about instead of sending me an email, calling me any names you want, sending me a letter, organizing an online rally.”

Yet while much of the attention on public health messages during the pandemic has focused on individual actions, experts say Canada is not doing enough to protect those most in need of support in the coming months.

Ontario, Quebec sees an increase in workplace outbreaks

While older Canadians are more at risk for serious COVID-19 outcomes, a total close to 90 percent of all deaths, essential frontline workers are facing a worsening situation.

For the first time during the pandemic, active outbreaks in workplaces in Canada’s largest provinces surpassed those in long-term care facilities – accounting for 30% of outbreaks in Ontario and 40% in Quebec, as reported for the first time since The Globe and Mail.

Although limited information is available on the exact location where the spread of COVID-19 is occurring, the Ontario Ministry of Health said in a statement to CBC News that the sectors most affected include construction, manufacturing, mining, storage and transportation.

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Due to the disproportionate risk of exposure they face, the union for workers in food retail, manufacturing, long-term care, home care and safety said on Friday that frontline workers should also be among the first recipients of COVID-19 vaccines.

“Workplaces are a big problem,” said Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious disease physician at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and an associate professor at McMaster University.

“There are people who have to go to work unfortunately for us to support the company, and once again we have to be willing and able to give them at least some safety measures in their workplace.”

Paid sick leave is the key to stopping the spread of COVID-19

Chakrabarti says one area that could help address rising transmission rates in the workplace is the highest-paid sick leave for those unable to lose their jobs due to COVID-19.

Unlike checking the contacts of people in their own homes, it is a problem that politics could address, he said.

“Workplaces are really important things because you can only do so much to keep things safe.”

If people decide between putting food on their table … or going into solitary confinement … they’ll show up to work sick.– Dr. Zain Chagla

Chakrabarti says that wearing the mask and physically walking away are not always possible in certain situations in the workplace, especially those involving indoor workers indoors, as evidenced by outbreaks in meat packaging plants, stores, is mines.

“Many people are financially unstable and afraid because if they have to quit their jobs, they will end up losing income,” he said. Undocumented workers may also be reluctant to talk about symptoms for fear of being deported.

“So you have a lot of these kinds of factors that I think are obstacles for the people being tested.”

Chagla says more targeted education, supervision, and internal audits to control COVID-19 transmission are needed in high-risk workplaces to ensure compliance and accountability.

“There are certainly tons of essential workplaces that will continue to have problems unless people actually step in and do these kinds of things,” he said.

Last month, the federal government created the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit to give up to $ 1,000 in support for workers with COVID-19 over two weeks, but Chagla said more could be done.

“You have to incentivize people to take the test,” Chagla said. “If people decide between putting food on the table and paying the rent, going to work or going into solitary confinement … they’ll show up to work sick.”

Isolate, extend better than ‘wagging’

Chakrabarti says another way to protect essential workers is through creating more dedicated isolation facilities for those recovering from COVID-19.

“An important place where amplification is occurring is in large families,” he said. “So if you have a place where people can have their meals covered and they can isolate themselves from their family, this will really help reduce the amplification of cases we’re seeing in the workplace.”

Chakrabarti says “condescension and fingering” in public health messages across the country against individual actions are not always effective, especially nine months into the pandemic.

“Community involvement often helps,” said Chakrabati, who is also a member of a newly formed group South Asia Task Force to connect and inform people in the Peel region.

“I think right now there is a lot of focus on people.” Hey, stay home, stay home, stop partying, “that kind of thing. While we don’t hear much of what’s going on in these workplaces.”

“This will be a problem during the entire pandemic,” Chagla said. “Because they have to stay open.”