Ford government rejects NDP motion seeking to create provincial paid sick-leave program TORONTO Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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The Ontario government has voted against a series of Opposition motions aimed at supporting essential workers, including one that sought to create a provincial paid sick-leave program.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath presented the motions – which required unanimous consent of the legislature to pass – during a session today.
She called on Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives to pass the sick-leave motion, but the government voted against the measure.
Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
Toronto’s top doctor says that at the current rate of transmission the city could see 2,500 new COVID-19 cases per day by the end of April.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Eileen de Villa says the surging rates are being driven by more transmissible variants of concern in the community.
De Villa says the current record for daily cases in Toronto is 1,642 and was set during the second wave of the pandemic.
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She says the city is vaccinating more people against the virus but that still won’t be enough to offset the impact of the variants.
Rising COVID-19 cases in Ontario, Quebec spark renewed concerns over strain on health-care system Morgan Lowrie Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
Authorities in Ontario and Quebec expressed concern on Monday that the recent rise in COVID-19 cases was putting renewed strain on the health-care system, as both provinces sought to contain the spread of the virus.
Ontario on Monday reported nearly 6,000 new COVID-19 cases over a two-day span, and Toronto Mayor John Tory announced he is working on a plan to vaccinate high-risk workplaces. Tory said the province needs to go further by working with the federal government to expand paid sick leave programs to help workers stay home and self-isolate.
Ontario to move Sarnia-Lambton region into lockdown on Monday after recent spike in COVID-19 cases Shawn Jeffords Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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Ontario says it is moving the Sarnia-Lambton region into lockdown on Monday after a recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
The government says it’s making the move in consultation with the region’s medical officer of health.
The province also says it will move the Northwestern Health unit into the second-strictest “red” category of Ontario’s colour-coded pandemic framework.
Some Ontario health units won’t use provincial COVID-19 vaccination booking system after March 15 launch TORONTO Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Some Ontario public health units will continue to use their own vaccination booking systems even after a provincial portal becomes available next week.
Solicitor-General Sylvia Jones says approximately six units, including Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, will stick with their own systems.
She says the rest will merge with the province’s online portal or use a combination of both systems.