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The Ontario Government has adopted an emergency order allowing control of COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care homes.
This will allow the government to appoint a manager to oversee long-term care homes struggling to deal with the outbreak.
In a release issued on Wednesday, the province said the emergency order will "support the use of rapid, immediate, and effective management alternatives to protect residents and staff within a home when necessary."
Laura Mae Lindo, MPP for Kitchener-Centre told Kitchener Today with Brian Bourke on 570 NEWS that she is cautiously optimistic about this order.
"Unfortunately there seems to be this pattern of weird loopholes and gaps in the emergency legislation that keeps getting passed, I feel like we might be looking at another one of those scenarios."
She said she believes Ontarians want real leadership and not just possibilities.
"If you are going to step in to take care of this, especially when we are dealing with such major outbreaks and still hearing from people who still don't have access to PPE that they need this far into the pandemic, then step in."
Lindo said there is a caveat that allows both a corporation and the province to step in.
"I don't know that the province is going to step in, so I am still living in the same uncertainty when residents in Kitchener-Centre call my office, unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that I know what the government is going to actually do to support focus."
At this point, there have been 249 outbreaks at Ontario's 626 long-term care homes. 11 of the outbreaks are at local long-term care and retirement homes.
