Toronto Public Health (TPH) will begin publishing details on COVID-19 workplace outbreaks. The city’s chief medical officer Dr. Eileen de Villa announced the new reporting measure to the press on Monday, adding that TPH will share specific information without compromising individual privacy.
The criteria for disclosing workplace COVID-19 outbreaks in Toronto will include measures so that infected individuals cannot be easily identified and when a significant proportion of staff are infected.
“Thirty-eight lives have been lost since December 30,” de Villa said during a press conference that reiterated that workplaces are just behind long-term care homes among settings where COVID-19 is spreading the most.
Councillor Joe Cressy, chair of Toronto’s board of health, was also on hand to explain the decision to report workplace outbreaks.
“Traditionally, public health only reports an outbreak if there is an unidentified public health risk,” said Cressy. “But COVID is not a traditional communicable disease.”
Cressy added that one key reason for publishing the information is transparency. “By informing the public, we can help inform behaviour.” The second reason is for safety and drawing attention to unsafe workplace settings so that both employers and governments can be held accountable.
“In a pandemic, information is power,” Cressy said. “Information can also provoke change.”
Dr. de Villa also outlined new measures for employers in the city, who must now immediately notify TPH as soon as they become aware of two or more employees contracting COVID-19. They must also designate a contact person to work with TPH and “immediately implement any measures” required by the agency.
Dr. de Villa also instructed workplaces to mitigate the number of times more than one person must travel in a vehicle to conduct work-related business, regularly clean high touch surface areas, maintain at least two metres of distance between employees where reasonably possible, and regularly assess heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
“I urge all employers permitted to operate under the Re-opening Ontario Act to do the right thing,” said Mayor John Tory, before de Villa introduced the new measures.
“This is about providing as much protection as possible to all the hardworking people who are still going into work in person to provide for all the rest of us, essential goods and services.”
