THREAD: I went to bed angry and I woke up angry. I am enraged...On the same day that ICUs were so full, more field hospitals were being built and our health experts were calling the 3rd wave of #COVID19 a "humanitarian catastrophe"...the Ontario government let us down. /1
Instead of announcing policies that would actually help people (like workplace protections for essential workers, #PaidSickDays, paid time off for vaccination, access to PPE/N95s)...they announced more policing & enforcement. /2
Enhanced restrictions may be needed in Ontario, but we must always be cautious of what more policing means. Low-income racialized people (many of whom are essential workers) have a very long history of being over-policed. They've also been hardest hit by #COVID19. /3
The sad part? This is a humanitarian catastrophe that NEVER should have happened. Had the Ontario government listened to the experts & made the important decisions upstream around public health restrictions, we would never have been here. This was all so...preventable. /4
As a frontline health worker, I cannot express the anger and emotional pain involved in providing healthcare for people with #COVID19 who should NOT be sick and who should NOT be dying in the first place. It is so demoralizing. /5
Yesterday's announcements are especially concerning because a significant proportion of infections are coming from workplaces. If the Ontario government cared about saving lives, they would take the necessary steps to do that. /6
More policing will not stop essential workers from getting sick at work. More policing will hurt racialized people, people who live in poverty, people who experience homelessness and those who experience other structural vulnerabilities in our society. /7
We can't police our way out of this pandemic. We need paid sick leave & protection for essential workers, now...or they will die. /END
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Leonard Rodriquez, Toronto, ON. A frontline PSW who died because of a lack of PPE. Despite this, he served as an Essential Worker until he succumbed to the virus. Experiences of racism in healthcare led him to avoid seeking care until it was too late. /1 cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
Shah-Sultan & Hassanali Remtulla, Burnaby, BC. A beloved couple often called 'lovebirds' by family & friends, were married 66 years. Although they were in separate locations at end-of-life due to the pandemic, they died one hour apart from each other. /2 cbc.ca/news/canada/br…
Just finished my first #COVID19 Assessment Centre shift. We were run off our feet with over 198 people seen. Despite that, I can’t say enough about how staff & health workers are stepping up in this time of crisis. This is inspiration. This is dedication. This is community. 🙏🏾
Amidst a crisis of pandemic proportions, #COVID19 is presenting us with an opportunity for our communities to think differently & improve the way we care and treat each other, not just today, but for the future. Here are some examples:
1. Equity: #COVID19 has disproportionately impacted the #homeless & marginalized. The burden of poverty makes it impossible to mount a defence against a pandemic. I'm inspired by community advocates responding to this issue. How can we eradicate inequity to create a just society?