September 30th, 2020

NDP statement on new COVID-19 modeling in Ontario

QUEEN’S PARK — Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath released the following statement on new data modeling for COVID-19 in Ontario:

“Premier Doug Ford has been doing the bare minimum in order to save a buck, instead of investing in action to mitigate the size and damage of the second wave of COVID-19. It’s absolutely shocking that today’s dire warnings — potentially including 1,000 new daily cases — come without any plan from this government to stop the spread.

Seniors in long-term care are far too vulnerable, with thousands fewer staff than they started this pandemic with. Patients are anxious that their long-delayed surgery or cancer treatments could be pushed back again if hospitals and ICUs become overwhelmed. Working folks and businesses are terrified that the second wave could hurt them worse than the first, and there are no direct income supports in place for them.

Doug Ford put Ontario in this position because he waited until Ontario was well into the second wave of COVID-19 to start rolling out his incomplete, late, underfunded, so-called ‘plan.’ He tried to save a buck, and now we’re all paying the price.

Experts and the new projections make clear that further restrictions are now in the cards. We need to consider further measures, on a regional approach, to control the spread, and we need to do it now.”