Horwath: Every COVID-19 workplace outbreak in Ontario must be made public

HAMILTON – Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, together with the NDP’s Workplace Health and Safety critic Wayne Gates, are urging Doug Ford to publicly disclose the names and locations of all workplaces with COVID-19 outbreaks, following the lead of municipalities.

“We’ve already seen almost 9,000 workers infected with COVID-19 in workplaces in Ontario. These essential workers don’t have the option to stay home, and have been exposed on the job at manufacturing plants, distribution centres, farms and grocery stores. They have a right to know whether their workplaces are safe, as do customers, delivery workers and first responders,” said Horwath.

“Keeping this information secret puts the lives of workers and their families at risk, it increases the risk of community spread, and it removes a critical piece of information we need to find COVID-19 hotspots and stop the spread. The Ford government must finally listen to workers and public health experts by making workplace outbreaks publicly-available.”

The City of Toronto announced Monday that it will reveal the names and locations of workplace outbreaks, but the Ford government is still refusing to do the same for workers in the rest of the province.

“Back in October, I urged the Ford government to reveal the names of workplace outbreaks across the whole province,” said Gates.

“Ontario is in deeper depths of the COVID crisis than ever, and there is no excuse for the Ford government to keep hiding information that we know will help to save lives. Every worker in Ontario has a right to know whether their workplace is safe wherever where they live and work.”