RNAO’s submission to the Toronto Board of Health on return to school

RNAO’s CEO Doris Grinspun made a deputation to the Toronto Board of Health on Jan. 17. RNAO recognizes the importance of our public education system for all children’s learning, physical, social and emotional development. In principle, there is no question – school is where kids and youth ought to be. However, the provincial government’s response to school safety has mirrored its response to the pandemic generally. Public health measures have been too little, too late – undermining our capacity to ameliorate the damage caused by the virus, and jeopardizing recovery.

Media release: Mandate vaccinations for all health-care and education workers and immediately establish safe zones to protect patients, students and workers

Toronto, Oct. 7, 2021. At a time when the federal government is mandating vaccinations for all of its public workers and municipalities, such as Toronto is doing the same, the Ontario government must move speedily to require all health-care and education workers across the province be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

RNAO commends move to mandate vaccination for long-term care staff and urges the same for all other health and education sectors

The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) commends and fully supports Minister of Long-Term Care (LTC) Rod Phillips’s announcement on mandatory vaccination for all in-home staff, support workers, students and volunteers in LTC, effective Nov. 15. As RNAO has publicly stated many times, this is a necessary action that will further protect LTC residents and staff from COVID-19 infection caused by unvaccinated health-care workers.

Keeping schools open and safe – learning from Spain’s exceptional experience

Spain has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic and is experiencing a fifth wave of COVID-19. The opening of the new school year in September 2021 arrives in Spain, however, with more confidence than in many other countries, including Canada. This confidence arises from their positive experience during the past year. Substantial parts of this article are adapted from an August 4, 2021 article in The Conversation by Fernando Trujillo Sáez; Jonatan Castaño Muñoz; Riina Vuorikari, and Romina Cachia, entitled Portrait of the school experience in Spain during more than a year of pandemic (in Spanish).