Last week a slimmed-down Legislature extended the state of emergency for another 28 days (the longest period until it needs to be renewed) to May 12.
This morning the Ontario government extended the orders made under the declaration of the state of emergency that had been set to expire today, April 23. Those orders were extended for another 2 weeks, to May 6. By law, these orders have to be extended every 14 days or else they terminate.
Plus, there was a new order made “to allow mental health and addictions agencies to redeploy staff within different locations or between programs, and employ extra part-time staff, temporary staff or contractors in order to ensure people continue receiving the high quality care they expect and deserve during the COVID-19 outbreak.”
The list of Emergency Orders extended until May 6 can be found in the full new brief and seen here.
The Ontario government also announced a new COVID-19 Action Plan for Vulnerable People. The implementation of this plan will better protect those living in residential settings and the workers who care for them including those with developmental disabilities, shelters for survivors of gender-based violence and human trafficking and children’s residential settings. The plan focuses on enhanced screening and reduced exposure to prevent spread, infection control to manage outbreaks and limit spread and sustaining staffing and managing staff shortages.
The full news brief can be seen here.
This action plan released today follows an action plan released last week to better protect the vulnerable individuals in long-term care homes. While progress has been on the implementation of the COVID-19 Action Plan for Protecting Long-Term Care Homes the Ontario government has requested further assistance from the federal government for long-term care homes. Today, the federal government accepted Ontario’s request for assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces, and other supports from Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada.
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Consult the Sussex COVID-19 Guide for information on supports made available across the Federal, Provincial and Municipal Governments.
Let Sussex help connect you with the right people in government to help your organization get through these extraordinary times and navigate COVID-19 support programs.
