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Health Care Workers Demand Personal Protective Equipment They Deem AppropriateHealth care workers in long-term care, assisted living facilities and seniors' residences have been on the front lines of fighting for the conditions needed to protect the health and lives of patients, residents, and staff. Since the pandemic began, health care workers have taken the lead in fighting for what is needed in their workplaces, including screening of patients and staff, providing full-time work at one site, stopping movement of personnel between sites, provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) and training in its use, and many other measures. As COVID-19 cases soar across Canada in the second wave, an alarming number of outbreaks have already taken place. As of October 14, there were COVID-19 outbreaks in 120 long-term care homes and more than 100 retirement homes across Canada. The number of outbreaks and deaths in long-term care homes has significantly increased since then. Health care workers and their organizations are demanding further measures which need to be taken urgently to bring transmission in hospitals and long-term care homes under control.
Precautionary PrincipleFrom the beginning of the pandemic, the CFNU and other unions representing health care workers have called on governments to implement the conclusions of the Final Report of the Ontario SARS Commission Inquiry (2006). A most important finding of that inquiry was the necessity of upholding the precautionary principle, which mandates the highest level of protection for health care workers. In its position statement on COVID-19 published March 23, the CFNU quoted the statement of Justice Campbell, Chair of the SARS Commission, in the final report in which he stressed that the question is not of who is right and who is wrong about airborne transmission, and that when it comes to worker safety, policy should be driven by "the precautionary principle that reasonable steps to reduce risk should not await scientific certainty." The CFNU argues that there is now substantial evidence that aerosol transmission is not rare, but a significant source of transmission of COVID-19. Research shows that the risk is highest in poorly ventilated and crowded indoor spaces, such as the older long-term care facilities, where these precautions are even more urgent given their vulnerable population. The CFNU concludes that, "Therefore, Canada must change its guidance for health care professionals to recognize that the virus is being spread both through the inhalation of aerosolized particles at close range (less than 6 feet) and through long-range airborne transmission." The
Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) finally updated its guidance on
the transmission of COVID-19 on November 4, stating, "SARS-CoV-2, the
virus that causes COVID-19, spreads from an infected person to others
through respiratory droplets and aerosols created when an infected
person coughs, sneezes, sings, shouts, or talks. Every preventable death is one too many. Every preventable infection and illness is one too many. For governments to ignore both science and the solutions put forward by health care workers who know what is required is not just an abdication of their social responsibility but gross negligence. Workers' Forum calls on all workers and people of Canada and Quebec to fully support the demands of health care workers for N95 masks and other essential measures which they deem necessary based on their experience and expertise. (Photo: Cdn Nurses Assn)
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The Canadian Federation of
Nurses Unions (CFNU) posted an updated summary of the research on
COVID-19 on its website on October 16. The federation is calling on the
Canadian government to recognize the emerging science on COVID-19
transmission, and to change its guidance for health care professionals
"to recognize that the virus is
being spread both through the inhalation of aerosolized particles at
close range (less than six feet) and through long-range airborne
transmission." The CFNU has provided evidence that the existing
guidelines which limits the need for N95 masks to health care workers
carrying out only certain procedures must be replaced and that N95
masks should
be standard for all staff working where there are suspected or
confirmed COVID-19 cases. This would include not just nurses but those
who provide direct care to residents in long-term care homes, as well
as other workers in hospitals and other health care settings.