Thread by @KashPrime

Wanted to build on this media piece with some background and concrete steps that we can take to start protecting the most vulnerable communities in our big cities. Thread:

https://twitter.com/CP24/status/1313886310927609856

Many of us in health care are very appreciative of all the things @fordnation has done to keep us safe. Unlike the US very few health care workers have gotten sick, and hopefully will stay that way. He listened to us at @conquercovid19 in March and got things done.

To his credit, Ford is also one of the only premiers who has kept pushing for rapid tests, the rapid PCR and rapid antigen tests, and his constant pressure at the federal level, I think was instrumental in them getting approved this week. cbc.ca/news/politics/…

Why I think he's getting bad advice: he and his senior advisors were unaware of some of the shocking numbers from parts of the city. That much was obvious at the press conference. Somehow information is not traveling up to where it counts.

@epdevilla in Toronto and @VeraEtches in Ottawa are trying to slow things down, but it's not translating to higher ups. He needs to get better advice and better advisors quickly. No shame in that. Sometimes peacetime generals are unsuited for war. Things he could do now:

1) Make the new EI sickness benefit seamless - work with the feds and local authorities so that workers who get sick need not fear losing their livelihoods, and can safely isolate from their coworkers. Isolation facilities could be used so they don't infect their families.

2) Make transit safer - The Finch bus line in Toronto is one of the busiest bus lines in the city. It is packed full of commuters all day. Add more buses; the mask mandate needs to be enforced. Long term some kind of rapid transit needs to come to the area.

3) Make testing easier and more local; Public health is overwhelmed; local hospitals are willing to help set up popup testing, satellite sites. They have the facilities, the personnel, and the willingness. They want to keep their communities healthy and not get overwhelmed.

4) Consider targeted closures, as NYC is doing in parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Nobody is calling for March-style lockdowns, but focus on areas and activities that can be closed temporarily until numbers settle down.
bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2…

5) Make workplaces safe. Many in NW Toronto work in high density workplaces and workplace regulations are all over the place. The province put in place a partial mask requirement a week ago, and we also need to pay attention to ventilation as well.

6) More data transparency - we shouldn't have to rely on leaks to know what's happening locally. I'm happy to see that this data will be available going forward. Every city in Canada should do the same. We can catch problems & inequities far earlier

https://twitter.com/joe_cressy/status/1313835759963602945?s=20

Thanks for reading!

A plug for our group #masks4canada, we are tracking school outbreaks and cases throughout Canada on our website: masks4canada.org

Good to see the Globe joining the fight to change up the pandemic advisory team at the top:

theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editor…