Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Ontario Division is once again part of a group of community health care organizations expressing their support of calls to tighten public health restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Monday, Community Health Ontario (CHO), of which CMHA Ontario is a part, supported the Ontario Health Association (OHA)’s latest call for a move back to Stage 2 in the City of Toronto, all regions of the Greater Toronto Area, and Ottawa. The request comes after 700 new COVID-19 cases were reported Monday in Ontario.
Just days earlier, on Sept, 25, CMHA Ontario co-signed a letter to the premier from Ontario’s leading mental health and addictions agencies in support of the OHA’s ask for stricter measures to limit escalating virus transmission.
In the latest letter, CHO notes that a return to Stage 2, with restrictions on indoor dining and bars, places of worship, weddings, gyms, movie theatres, and other non-essential businesses, is needed now to continue to keep schools open and prevent a further acceleration of infections.
Aligning with the OHA’s statement, CHO’s letter says that without public health measures in place to limit opportunities for disease transmission, Ontario will soon see higher numbers of hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care units, significant strain on long-term care homes, community health care agencies, and more deaths.
CHO is a community sector partnership that represents the majority of the non-profit home care, community support, mental health, addictions and community-governed primary health care organizations in Ontario. It is comprised of Addictions and Mental Health Ontario, AdvantAge Ontario, Alliance for Healthier Communities, CMHA Ontario, Children’s Mental Health Ontario, and the Ontario Community Support Association.