NDP demands Ford disclose “red zone” long-term care homes

QUEEN’S PARK – NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says it is time for the government to come clean about readiness for COVID-19 in Ontario’s long-term care homes, in light of news that the Red Cross has been dispatched to seven Ottawa-area long-term care homes.

“After weeks of insisting that long-term care facilities were ready for a second wave of COVID-19, the Ford government is once again scrambling to contain outbreaks. This is a total failure and Doug Ford needs to tell us today: what homes are at risk and what are they doing to prepare?”

For weeks, the government has insisted that homes were ready, and that Ontarians would know what Ford knows. All while holding on to a secret list of “red zone” homes on the brink of devastating outbreaks.

As recently as September, many of the Ottawa area homes now awaiting help from the Red Cross were getting no support from the government at all. A Sept. 11 memo from the Ministry of Long-Term Care indicated that homes were on their own to “address the gaps” in human resources, infection prevention and control.

“It’s time for Ford to release the “red zone” list, and own up to his complete lack of preparedness for the second wave in long-term care. Seniors lives are on the line, and families deserve full transparency, in order to make an informed decision to keep their loved ones in care safe.”