Statement from NDP Leader Andrea Horwath on news of a COVID-19 variant

STRATFORD — Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath released the following statement:
“The new, potentially dangerous variant of COVID-19 is very scary for people, world-wide. It’s horrifying for us all to think that any more illness, hardship and loss of life could be ahead.

Governments should be listening to public health experts when it comes to border measures, and acting immediately — today — on the best public health advice.

But Doug Ford also has a lot of work to do at home to protect us all. Ontario cannot rely on selective border closures alone. We need to rally our defences here — we need to have a robust plan to test, trace and isolate. With the virus circulating among children, we need to speed up children’s vaccines, lower class sizes, and improve ventilation in schools. We need to make vaccines mandatory for health and education workers. We need to have paid sick and family care days to stop the spread. Ford should immediately speed up and expand booster shots for more groups of Ontarians according to the best medical advice.

In the face of new variants, we all need Doug Ford to stop delaying, opposing and ignoring expert advice as he’s done throughout the pandemic.”