Science Table sets out what is needed and what will not work

By Staff

April 21st, 2021

BURLINGTON, ON

The Science Table yesterday released the following:

Fighting COVID-19 in Ontario: The Way Forward

Enough financial support
An emergency benefit that offers more money, is easily accessible, immediately paid and that, for the duration of the pandemic, is available to essential workers – when they are sick, when they’ve been exposed, need time off to get tested, or when its their turn to get vaccinated – will help limit spread.
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Accelerating the vaccination of essential workers and those who live in hot spots:
Vaccines are essential in slowing the pandemic. This means immediately allocating as many doses as possible to hotspot neighbourhoods, vulnerable populations, and essential workers. It also means accelerating the distribution and administration of vaccines overall, making it easier for at risk groups to get vaccinated, and promoting the vaccine with more intensive and effective on the ground community outreach.

The challenge is to reduce the amount of mobility to below that threshold level. Individual decisions will make this happen.

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Limiting mobility:
This means restricting movement between regions of the province and restricting movement into the province. COVID-19 is not a single pandemic, because different regions of Ontario and Canada face distinct problems. Moving around the province risks creating new hotspots, especially because the variants of concern are so transmissible. Simply put, Ontarians need to stay in their local communities.

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Focusing on public health guidance that works:
This means Ontarians can’t gather indoors with people from outside their household (with the very limited exception of safe indoor work in essential workplaces). It means Ontarians can spend time with each other outdoors, distancing two metres, wearing masks, keeping hands clean.

Keeping people safely connected: Maintaining social connections and outdoor activity are important to our overall physical and mental health. This means allowing small groups of people from different households to meet outside with masking and two – metre distancing. It means keeping playgrounds open, and clearly encouraging safe outdoor activities.

What Won t Work

Policies that harm or neglect racialized, marginalized and other vulnerable populations will not be effective against a disease that already affects these groups disproportionately. For these reasons, pandemic policies should be examined through an equity lens to ensure that all communities benefit.

Dr. Adelstein Brown; Chair of the Science Table

As noted in repeated studies from around the world, inconsistent policies with no clear link to scientific evidence are ineffective in fighting COVID-19.

Policies that discourage safe outdoor activity will not control COVID19 and will disproportionately harm children and those who do not have access to their own green spaces, especially those living in crowded conditions.

There is no trade -of   between economic, social and health priorities in the midst of a pandemic that is out of control. The fastest way back to work – and to all the other things that make life in Ontario great is to get this disease under control as quickly as we can together.