May 28th, 2020

Ford must deploy extra resources to COVID-19 hot spots now: Horwath

QUEEN’S PARK - Andrea Horwath, Leader of the Official Opposition New Democrats, issued the following statement calling on Doug Ford to immediately deploy additional resources and support to communities identified as COVID-19 hotspots in a map released by the City of Toronto:

“I’m calling on Doug Ford to immediately deploy additional resources to COVID-19 hotspots – from testing and contact tracing resources to personal protective equipment and financial supports.

Thanks to a map from the City of Toronto, it’s more obvious than ever that COVID-19 hot spots are concentrated in communities that are low-income and predominantly racialized. In north Etobicoke and Scarborough, Black and racialized Ontarians — many of whom work in low-wage and high-exposure jobs as personal support workers or grocery store workers — have been left more exposed to COVID-19 transmission. These Ontarians need more direct financial support from the province. The hardest-hit communities haven’t had enough resources sent in to help put out the fires and that needs to change now.

It’s shameful that Ford has been resistant to mandating the collection and sharing of race-based and socio-economic COVID-19 data, but he can no longer ignore this information. This is urgent and lives are at stake.”