Feb 6, 2021
OTTAWA/TORONTO – For 15 years, Halima has supported herself and her three children by working long hours taking care of older clients in retirement homes or in their personal residences in Toronto.
But as COVID-19 infections surged last year, Halima’s hours were slashed because care workers in Ontario were restricted to working in only one facility, and suddenly she could not afford the 1,800 Canadian dollars ($1,407) monthly rent on her apartment.
Halima, who asked to be identified by her first name only, has managed to keep a roof over her head by cutting back on groceries. As a part-time worker, she has no benefits and no paid sick days.
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The Ottawa Mission is again accepting new admissions, as long as those individuals have not been in the shelter over the past two weeks to protect against new infections of COVID-19.
“As you know, we were in outbreak status for part of this past month due to positive cases of COVID-19 identified earlier by testing, and therefore our intake was paused accordingly,” spokeswoman Aileen Leo said Wednesday.
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“Our capacity to accept new clients is limited, and therefore, if we exceed this capacity, additional new clients will be diverted to the Tom Brown arena.”
On the brink: Canada care workers struggle to make ends meet in pandemic Reuters 2/3/2021
By Julie Gordon and Anna Mehler Paperny
OTTAWA/TORONTO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - For 15 years, Halima has supported herself and her three children by working long hours taking care of elderly clients in retirement homes or in their personal residences in Toronto.
But as COVID-19 infections surged last year, Halima s hours were slashed because care workers in Ontario were restricted to working in only one facility, and suddenly she could not afford the C$1,800 ($1,407) monthly rent on her apartment.
Halima, who asked to be identified by her first name only, has managed to keep a roof over her head by cutting back on groceries. As a part-time worker, she has no benefits and no paid sick days.
Further testing is planned for all emergency shelters in the upcoming days.
Contact tracing will be conducted for each positive case, with Ottawa Public Health (OPH) and Ottawa Inner City Health taking the lead and providing guidance.
Due to the frostbite advisory, we are providing service on weekends at Tom Brown Respite Centre, 141 Bayview Road, for people needing a warm place to go during the day. Residents needing overnight shelter can call 3-1-1 for assistance. https://t.co/j7DELbbgyP—@ottawacity
According to the public health unit s COVID-19 dashboard, there are five outbreaks at the city s homeless shelters.