On Monday, Ontario reported 114 new cases of COVID-19. The majority of cases were in Toronto, Peel, and Ottawa with 41, 16 and 21, respectively and another 12 in York Region. Ontario’s other 30 public health units saw five or fewer cases, with 18 reporting no new cases at all. One additional death related to the virus was also reported.
The latest cases come on the same day that Ontario’s four major teachers’ unions said they would file complaints with the labour board that the Government of Ontario was violating its own workplace safety laws with its back to school plan. Union representatives say the Ministry of Labour failed to take adequate safety and health precautions for the return of teachers and staff to their place of work.
In response, Premier Doug Ford said he couldn’t understand what the unions were unhappy with.
“We have done absolutely everything… Every idea possible, we’re putting into the classrooms,” said Ford. “If you compare the report card with all the other provinces, it’s night and day… My concern is how at the peak of this, when it was running rampant, that PSWs walked into long-term care homes like firefighters walking into the burning buildings, and they don’t say a word.”
Ford went on to say that it was the unions were seeking to start fights, but that he is confident the teachers will “do a great job” and that several teachers had approached him recently to apologize for the behaviour of the unions.
