Ontario health unit partially closes 2 Amazon fulfilment centres to control COVID-19 …

Peel Public Health said in a news release on Friday that the businesses and employees have been notified.

The public health unit said the centres have been closed under Section 22 of Ontario’s Health Protection and Promotion Act. On its website, it said a partial closure may mean the mass dismissal of a shift or work area.

“Modified closure criteria applies to large businesses. Based on risk assessment, it will be determined if full or partial closure is warranted,” Peel Public Health said in the release.

“Peel Public Health will be reviewing workplaces that meet the closure criteria on a daily basis to determine what action is required.” 

The public health unit said any closures would apply to businesses that have had five or more cases that were acquired in the workplace over a span of two weeks.

Paid sick leave urged when businesses closed

Any closures could last up to 10 days, and all affected employees must go into isolation during that time. They are not allowed to work in any other workplace.

“Absent legislated paid sick days, employers required to close under these provisions are strongly recommended to provide paid leave for impacted employees,” the public health unit said in the release. 

Amazon has not yet responded to a request by CBC News for comment.

Peel Region includes Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon. Bolton is a community in the town of Caledon.

Premier Doug Ford said on Thursday that his government has started work on a paid sick leave program after months of insisting that the program offered by the federal government was sufficient. The provincial government recently voted down a bill by the NDP that would have granted all workers access to paid sick days provided by their employers. 

The 10-day period will allow public health officials to investigate the outbreaks without the risk of spread of infection and to provide recommendations to the workplaces, the public health unit said.

Workplaces ‘major driver’ of cases in Peel

On Tuesday, Peel Public Health, along with Toronto Public Health (TPH), announced that they would issue orders to force businesses with five or more cases of COVID-19 in the past two weeks to close.

Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel’s medical officer of health, said in a news release on Tuesday: “Workplaces that remain open continue to be a major driver of COVID-19 cases in Peel, as they have been throughout the course of our emergency response.”

Loh said the closures would apply to businesses where those infected “could have reasonably acquired their infection at work” or if “no obvious source” for transmission is identified outside of the workplace. 

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie told reporters at a weekly news briefing on Wednesday that there are about 100 active workplace outbreaks in Peel Region. A total of 402 workplaces in Peel have had outbreaks since the pandemic began. She said workplace outbreaks lead to wider household and community spread.

“The reality is things have never been more serious,” she said.

A study by Peel Public Health has found that, out of 8,000 workers who contracted COVID-19, nearly 2,000 of them, or one in four, went to work with COVID-19 symptoms, Crombie said.

A total of 80 of the workers went to work after receiving a positive COVID-19 test, she said.

“The action that Dr. Lawrence Loh has taken is necessary and addresses where the transmission is occurring,” she added.

Crombie acknowledged that Section 22 orders would be “very difficult” on businesses and employees.

TPH says identifying workplaces to be done ‘carefully”

Toronto Public Health, for its part, has not indicated when it will publicly disclose the businesses it has ordered to close.

TPH said it will notify the owner or operator of a workplace about whether a closure is full or partial and which employees need to be sent home to isolate for 10 days. It said it would posts signs at all entrances to a workplace subject to an order.