The president of the province’s largest public sector union says home care workers were the very last considered when it came to the supply of personal protective equipment despite their essential role.
Jerry Earle says somehow, the system seemed to overlook home care workers who attended to the needs of some of those most vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19.
He says they were the last to be provided with PPE. While employees of long-term care facilities were limited in moving from one facility to another, Earle says home care workers were continuing to travel from home to home and community to community.
Earle indicates that early in the pandemic they had home care workers who had just arrived back in the province, and were expected to report for work without so much as a bottle of hand sanitizer.
He says home care is an essential and an efficient component of the health care system, and it’s only in recent weeks they’ve received the basic supplies necessary to ensure their safety and that of their clients.