The head of the Ontario nurses’ association says she is outraged with both federal and provincial governments because both are not doing enough to procure sufficient personal protection equipment (PPE) for frontline health care workers amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Doris Grinspun, Chief Executive officer of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, confirmed to Global News that several of her members have contracted COVID-19 and she said it is due to a lack of PPE.
“Several are in self-isolation because they were told not to use a mask and the patient was positive,” she said.
She said she wants both Ottawa and Queen’s Park to immediately adjust their procurement framework, noting France has ordered over a billion surgical masks.
Using that country as a model and adjusting for Canada’s population Grinspun said, “We need nine million per week…nine million a week! So the feds need to move first of all, and they aren’t moving nor is the province.”
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Citing anecdotes from nurses she speaks with dealing with the crisis on a daily basis she said she is worried about a worst case scenario hitting Ontario and the rest of the country in the weeks ahead.
“These are not stories, people have died, their workers have died.”
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