Special Measures To Protect Ontario Seniors
$10 million invested by province to rally aid for senior residents
The Ontario government is investing $10 million to help mobilize community organizations (including volunteer support) and local businesses (such as grocers and pharmacists) to build a subsidized delivery system for meals, groceries, medicines, and other essential items and services to senior residents of the province.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health has advised all senior residents (especially above the age of 70) and those pre-existing medical conditions which leads to a compromised immune system (high blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes, auto-immune conditions, etc) to stay at home in order to minimize risk of infection by the novel coronavirus pandemic that has affected thousands across the globe and claimed at least 65 lives in Ontario alone.
“We take seriously the advice of Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, and we’re working to put an iron ring of protection around our seniors from COVID-19,” said Premier Doug Ford. “We are encouraging everyone to reach out and support them, whether it’s delivering their prescriptions or picking up the phone and giving them a call. It will all make a positive difference to our most vulnerable citizens.”
The government is working closely with organizations like the Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) and Older Adults Centres’ Association of Ontario (OACAO) in an effort to identify and deploy volunteer support for daily living assistance to those who need it most.
“We must do everything in our power to care for and support Ontario’s most vulnerable population,” said Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care.
