The Province of Ontario has announced a temporary pay hike for eligible frontline workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
They'll receive $4 per hour, on top of their current hourly wages for the next 16 weeks.
In addition to the pandemic pay premium of $4 per hour, those who work more than 100 hours per month will get a $250 monthly lump sum bonus, for up to 4 months.
That means that eligible workers who put in an average of 40 hours per week would get $3,560 in additional compensation.
Among those eligible for the pay increase are nurses, personal support workers, hospital staff, staff at homeless and women's shelters, mental health and addiction workers, correctional officers among other specific frontline workers and workplaces.
The government says 350,000 workers in the province are eligible for this "pandemic payment".
This latest announcement, came on the heels of some major announcements this morning, including that the province would be amending the current emergency orders already in place, to allow the redeployment of staff to long-term care centres deemed to be at high risk of the virus.
Under the new measures, healthcare providers, including hospitals, will be able to temporarily reassign frontline staff, wherever they are needed the most.
The Ford government is also amending orders to allow families dealing with food insecurity, to access fresh food from allotment and community gardens.
In addition, the province announced it was extending the closure of all provincial parks and conservation reserves, including car camping, back-country camping, roofed accomodations, day-use opportunities, access points and all public buildings until May 31st.
CP Photo/HO, Ontario Tourism 2005
Meantime, during his daily briefing this afternoon, the premier expressed his frustration with a group of about 100 protestors on the grounds of Queens Park, who were calling for an end to the provincial shutdown.
He called them "a bunch of yahoos" for putting everyone in jeopardy, including themselves.
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"When I looked out the window and we see these people that are absolutely irresponsible. It's reckless to do what they're doing and personally I think it's selfish. We have healthcare workers down the street at these hospitals working around-the-clock to protect the community. 99.9 per cent of the people in this province are working together, side by side. That's the reason we were able to see a flattening of the curve."
Ford noted that the protestors were breaking the law, but when a reporter asked him if protestors should be ticketed for not following physical distancing rules, the premier said he'd leave that up to police who were on scene monitoring the situation.
"We're better than this. We're better than this as a people, as a province. We've proved [sic] it and - you know - then you have these people that want to protest? Hey, I understand that people want to get out there, but we have to be responsible. We have to make sure - we've come such a long way - that we protect the health and the well-being of every single person in this province and there's no one that wants to open up the economy more than I do, and everyone else, but we're going to do it responsibly."
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