Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks with protesters outside the St. George long-term care home in Toronto on Sunday during a rally to demand that operator Sienna Senior Living invest more on resident care and staff safety amid the pandemic.CHRIS HELGREN/Reuters
Two of Canada’s four federal party leaders joined a rally at a Toronto long-term care home this afternoon to press the provincial government to do more to protect seniors from the ravages of COVID-19.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and the Green Party’s Annamie Paul spoke outside St. George Care Community, which is in the midst of one of the largest virus outbreaks in Ontario.
Data from the ministry of health shows there are 43 residents and 28 staff members currently infected with COVID-19 at the home.
There have been 14 deaths linked to the active outbreak.
Paul said she has a personal connection to the home, adding her father died there during the first wave of the global pandemic.
She’s calling on both provincial officials and members of the public to do their utmost to protect long-term care residents, who have been hit especially hard by the virus.
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Meanwhile, Premier Doug Ford is warning Ontarians that “turbulent waters” are ahead in the fight against COVID-19 as the province set yet another single-day high for new diagnoses.
He says the health care system is “on the brink” of being overwhelmed, so people must do everything they can to stop the spread of the virus.
The grim warning comes just days before public health officials are expected to release new COVID-19 projections.
It also comes as Ontario reported 3,945 new cases of COVID-19, a single-day high, and 61 new deaths on Sunday.
The province says 1,483 people are in hospital with the virus, including 388 who are in intensive care and 266 on ventilators.
A total of 4,983 people have died from COVID-19 in Ontario and 215,782 have tested positive for the virus over the course of the pandemic.
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