Posted on 04/24/2003 2:25:12 PM PDT by ex-Texan
Premier: Ontario to compensate all those who've lost wages because of SARS quarantine
"I am giving you my word that any Ontarian who has lost wages because they've been asked to go into quarantine by public health officials will be fully compensated," Ontario Premier Ernie Eves said Thursday.
BLYTH, Ont. -- All workers who have lost pay while in quarantine because of the city's SARS outbreak will be reimbursed, Ontario Premier Ernie Eves announced Thursday.
''I am giving you my word that any Ontarian who has lost wages because they've been asked to go into quarantine by public health officials will be fully compensated,'' Eves told the daily briefing on severe acute respiratory syndrome.
''People will not have to choose between doing the right thing and putting food on their table.''
Earlier, the premier, who made the comments while visiting a school in this southwestern Ontario community, said the World Health Organization advisory against unnecessary travel to Toronto had spurred him to action.
''I'll be taking a much more active role now as we go on,'' he said.
''I think that the designation that the WHO has chosen to put on Ontario, Toronto and Canada is inappropriate as do many health-care professionals and we will be speaking out loudly.''
Just a day earlier, Eves seemed resigned to the WHO decision.
By Thursday, however, he said he had heard from medical experts and gained a better sense of the situation.
''Having heard what I have heard in the last 24 hours from our health-care professionals, the designation is somewhat unfair.''
Eves had previously rejected the idea of mass compensation for those affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome, saying it would cost tens of billions of dollars.
The premier's remarks on Thursday stand in stark contrast to the way he has reacted to the SARS crisis in recent weeks.
In the initial days following the outbreak, Eves said he was intentionally keeping a low-profile so as not to divert attention from the work of health-care professionals.
Earlier this week, he delivered a speech at a Tory fundraiser which failed to make a single reference to SARS, instead touting the government's record of tax cuts.
An election is expected within months.
SARS has so far cost the province more than $84 million, said Eves, who acknowledged Thursday that the government might have to change its economic forecasts because of the outbreak.
''We are going to continue to do whatever it takes to make sure that we have the resources in place, in the health-care field and in our hospital system,'' he said.
Eves also said he would take the unusual step of attending Thursday's daily SARS briefing.
© Copyright 2003 The Canadian Press
We're not talking about a whole lot of people, in fact. The spread is still trackable back to the original source...there has been no breakout into the community. The biggest danger is that people will use this excuse to get a free 10 days off. If that's the price to lock down the infection so be it. H*ll, our government wastes more money every day than it will take to reassure people that if they have symptoms or have been in close contact with others who do that they won't have to deal with financial difficulties. Keeping the spread under control is paramount. We're not talking about a lot of people here. The banks are already under extreme pressure to be helpful to people who may find mortgage payments tough because of a few weeks of forced non-employment, and all financial institutions are receiving the same message. Bad karma to scr*w folks who act in accordance with greater public good. This will work.
The hysteria is remarkable. Toronto is not a typhoid ward. I'm sick of seeing news orgs talk about Toronto and show pictures of China. I've been in two medical facilities in the last three days and it's no issue. We're not third world up here, we just saw it before anyone knew what it was. Be thankful it happened here. At least we had the national coordination to get the data out fast and help other jurisdictions (like American cities) not have to deal with the shock and challenges of intial exposure like we did.
I don't have SARS.
I have SARPP. Severe Allergic Reaction to Rediculously Panicky People.
Let's focus on stopping the spread in remote areas of China and India, That's where the real nightmare scenario resides.
As discussed in threads over the past year, Uganda is the only country which emphasizes abstinence in its AIDS education, and is the one African country where new AIDS cases are in sharp decline. (However, check out articles by Gisselquist & Potterat indicating that continued use of dirty syringes by medical personnel, and multi-use medication vials, may explain even more of African AIDS than does sexual practices.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.