Ontario Needs a Proactive COVID-19 Strategy that Includes Sentinel Testing

Date: 
Thursday, May 21, 2020

(Image created by Russell Tate)

We are writing to express our concern over reopening Ontario’s economy before public health protections are more fully established. Public health experts have sounded the alarm, stating that reopening the economy with only limited testing – rather than proactive sentinel testing of asymptomatic at-risk populations – is an unnecessary risk that could set Ontario back in its recovery efforts. They recognize that we can’t be sure of whether Ontario is ready to reopen, because the province is neither testing widely enough among key vulnerable populations nor transparently releasing comprehensive population status data to the public.

We’ve known for months that COVID-19 patients may be asymptomatic. Failure to conduct proactive sentinel testing of asymptomatic essential workers and vulnerable populations could be putting these communities – and the broader population – at high risk. Media reports show at-risk essential workers, from personal support workers to taxi drivers, dying preventable deaths from a lack of COVID-19 protections and testing. At the same time, outbreaks have been reported in congregate settings from mental health facilities and shelters, to group homes and farm worker housing. Three weeks after the announcement of a 'COVID-19 Action Plan for Vulnerable People' there is still no plan for sentinel testing, no public reporting of outbreaks and cases for these populations, and no guidance for health and social service providers working in congregate settings or with vulnerable at-risk populations.

We are heartened to hear that testing for symptomatic individuals – promised three weeks ago and overdue even then – will now be expanded to “vulnerable populations, including those in retirement homes and other shared living spaces like shelters and group homes”.  But we remain concerned that this reactive strategy will not prevent the asymptomatic spread of COVID-19.

The province will only have a complete picture of the pandemic’s impact by systematically and proactively testing all people living in group settings and the workers in those and other high risk settings.

We urge the province to act now to protect communities who continue to be deeply impacted by this pandemic.

Pour la version française de cette lettre, appuyer ici.

Signed by 35 organizations and 210 individuals.

  1.  Addictions & Mental Health Ontario
  2. AdvantAge ontario
  3. Algoma Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic
  4. Alliance for Healthier Communities
  5. Brain injury Association Peterborough Region
  6. Bridges Community Health Centre
  7. Brock Mission
  8. CHC of Northumberland
  9. Citizens Alive
  10. Davenport Perth Neighbourhood and Community Health Centre
  11. East End CHC
  12. Flemingdon Health Centre
  13. Grand Bend Area CHC
  14. Hesperus Fellowship Community of Ontario
  15. Lanark community programs
  16. LKGroup Inc
  17. London InterCommunity Health Centre
  18. Noojmowin-teg health centre
  19. NPAO
  20. Ottawa Senior Pride Network
  21. Peterborough 360 Degree Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic
  22. Quest Community Health Centre
  23. Regent Park CHC
  24. Seaway Valley Community Health Centre
  25. South East Ottawa Community Health Centre
  26. Stonegate Community Health Centre
  27. The Healing Collective
  28. Toronto Board of Health
  29. United Jewish People's Order
  30. Vibrant Healthcare Alliance
  31. WellFort Community Health Services
  32. Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre
  33. Windsor Essex Community Health Centre
  34. Women's Health in Women's Hands CHC
  35. Woolwich Community Health Centre

Focusing on digital equity to keep people connected: Telus donation helps address barriers for marginalized people

Thursday, April 30, 2020
Staff at Guelph CHC pose with cellphones donated by Telus to help support outreach efforts and marginalized populations.

[Staff at Guelph CHC pose with phones donated via Telus with voice and data plans to help support marginalized people to be able to connect to the supports they need and stay safe during the COVID-19 response.]

“I couldn’t imagine what I would do if I didn’t have a connection to my supports right now,” said Chris Morton, an outreach worker with the primary care outreach team at Kitchener Downtown CHC.

It’s a sentiment that most of us can relate to. Now imagine, for a moment, not having access to a phone, or the internet, during the pandemic.

Morton, who works with people experiencing homelessness in Kitchener, says that early on in the pandemic response, outreach teams across the community began to notice they couldn’t connect with the people they were used to seeing. For outreach staff like Morton, not being able to be mobile and meet people in the usual locations, such as the public library or meal locations quickly became a barrier to supporting people.

“We quickly saw people’s wellbeing decline. We saw struggles with substance use increase because of isolation, while their mental health and wellbeing was negatively impacted.”

Morton didn’t despair or stand still, though. He said the outreach team at KDCHC started by identifying that they needed to prioritize access to phones. That’s when Morton reached out to Telus, and was referred to their #AllConnectedForGood program.

“I explained who we are and what we do, and detailed our request for support through technology to support the people we’ve been connected to and serving for many years in the community.”

Telus responded with a donation that Morton said will help their clients, but which has also been able to support other organizations doing similar work in the area. The donation included smartphones and $0 talk and data plans to help get people connect during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This has been a community-wide initiative, and goes far beyond us,” he said. “We’ve been able to get phones out to other people who are also doing this type of outreach work, so it’s been a community-wide effort to ensure people are getting connected to the supports they need.”

In fact, the Telus donation via Morton has been able to support people who use Consumption and Treatment Services, as well as other people who are isolated or served by outreach programs across Ontario -- at centres such as South Riverdale CHC, NorWest CHC, Sandy Hill CHC, Windsor Essex CHC, Regent Park CHC, Somerset West CHC, Guelph CHC, Carea CHC and Street Health in Toronto.

Staff at South Riverdale CHC, in fact, have now launched their own #DeviceDrive, aiming to meet even more technology and connection needs being faced by the people they serve and the wider community.

While the need is still great, the recognition of this gap by Telus, and its generous donation, helps to highlight the areas that need action. As Telus announced its nationwide commitment to deliver 10,000 phones to isolated seniors and other vulnerable people during COVID-19, Alliance CEO Adrianna Tetley thanked the telco giant while focusing on the digital access barriers people face, in a time when so many health and social services are dependent on users having devices and high-speed internet connections.

“COVID-19 is an unprecedented challenge, especially for people experiencing homelessness, those who use drugs, and other marginalized and isolated people,” said Adrianna Tetley, CEO of Alliance for Healthier Communities, Ontario. “We must remember that the digital equity divide is real. This donation of phones and data plans demonstrates the lifeline technology can provide between the people who need our help the most right now and the community health providers who’ve built trust with them.”

[Kitchener Downtown CHC outreach worker Chris Morton holds up one of the phones donated by Telus to help marginalized people connect to supports and resources during COVID-19. The help for communities that Morton got started from Telus has gone well beyond Kitchener, reaching people supported by CHCs across Ontario.]