COVID-19 Updates | Weekend Workplace Round Up for April 18, 19 & 20, 2020
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Below are the key announcements from the Federal, Ontario, Alberta and BC governments that touch on workplace issues for April 18, 19 & 20, 2020
Federal
Parliament Extends Canada U.S. Border Restrictions to May 20
On Sunday, April 19, 2020, Canada and the U.S agreed to extend cross-border restrictions to all non-essential travel for another 30 days to prevent further spread of COVID-19.
The original agreement, that came into action on March 21, 2020, was set to expire today. Justin Trudeau says "this is an important decision, and one that will keep people on both sides of the border safe. It’s another example of the excellent collaboration between our two countries.”
Learn more from this news release.
Prime Minister Announces Support for Indigenous Businesses
Justin Trudeau, today announced up to $306.8 million in funding to help small and medium-sized Indigenous businesses, and to support Aboriginal Financial Institutions that offer financing to these businesses.
The funding will allow for interest-free loans, as well as non-repayable contributions, to help Indigenous businesses unable to access the government’s existing COVID-19 support measures.
Learn more from the Prime Minister's official statement.
Website Enables Sharing of Pandemic Resources and Good Practices
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has provided an online space, Pandemic Info Share, to enable businesses and organizations to share their pandemic-related good practices and resources.
CCOHS hopes workplaces may find the information on the website helpful in developing their own plans and that it could help accelerate development and uptake of processes and resources that may help workplaces operate safely during this pandemic.
Good practices and resources can be submitted for consideration to Pandemic Info Share.
Learn more from this official CCOHS news release.
Ontario
Ontario is Investing $20 Million to Advance Medical Research
On April 18, 2020 the Ontario government announced it's investing $20 million to advance medical research and develop tools and resources to combat COVID-19 and other infectious diseases through the Ontario COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund.
The government is calling on all world-class research institutions, postsecondary institutions, and non-profit scientific partners in the province to take action in the development of innovative solutions to track and defeat COVID-19.
Proposals by Ontario researchers should be made through the Ontario Together portal and will be accepted until April 24.
Learn more about the Ontario COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund.
Read the full news release.
News! Health experts say the COVID-19 outbreak has likely peaked in Ontario
Today the Ontario government released updated COVID-19 modelling, which shows that the enhanced public health measures, including staying home and physically distancing from each other, are working to contain the spread of the virus and flatten the curve.
However, the Chief Medical Officer of Health says emergency measures must remain in place to continue reducing the number of cases and deaths.
Learn more from Ontario’s official news release.
Alberta
Alberta Plans to Dramatically Expand a COVID-19 Testing System that Already Leads the Country
Alberta has consistently had among the highest per capita testing rates in Canada. The province's testing rate, at about 21 tests per 1,000 people, is well above the Canadian average.
Alberta recently expanded its criteria to include anyone in the province with symptoms – the broadest testing coverage in the country. And it plans to continue that expansion, almost tripling its capacity to 20,000 tests a day by the end of May.
Learn more from this news release.
News! Relief coming for continuing care pressures
New funding amounting to $7.3 million per month has been announced to help alleviate pressures in contracted continuing care facilities during the pandemic. This additional funding will provide for:
- Increased health-care aide staffing levels – funding will help facilities hire approximately 1,000 additional full-time staff;
- A wage top-up of an additional $2 per hour for health-care aides; and
- Up to 1,000 paid student practicum positions to fast-track certification and get more staff into continuing care facilities.
In addition, $24.5 million is being advanced to operators to help address immediate cost pressures due to COVID-19.
Learn more from Alberta’s official news release.
British Columbia
New Ticketing Measures to Enforce Emergency Program Act Orders
The Solicitor General announced that police and other enforcement officers will be empowered to issue fines of up to $2,000 for:
- price gouging;
- reselling of medical supplies and other essential goods;
- exceeding the quantity limits on sale of specified items; and
- failing to comply with the requirement for hotel and lodging operators to provide accommodation at the request of the government to serve as self-isolation facilities, or to support essential workers.
See BC's official news release for details.
News! Technology loans giving more children the opportunity to learn at home
While in-class learning is suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 23,000 computers and devices are being loaned out in every part of the province, so students can access the internet and continue their education.
To support families looking for additional resources to help their children learn remotely, the Ministry of Education has created the Keep Learning website, which is updated almost daily with new activities for kids of any age.
See what additional support is available to BC students from this news release.
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Sarah Visca is the Operations Manager at ConnectsUs HR, a company that provides tools & resources to quickly set up a Human Resources department.
You can contact her here.
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