On March 12, representatives from the NSGEU, NSNU, CUPE and Unifor met with officials from government, the Nova Scotia Health Authority, infection control specialists, and the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Robert Strang.
At this meeting, we called on the Nova Scotia government to uphold the precautionary principle when it comes to providing personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers. The precautionary principle, as outlined by Justice Campbell following the SARS crisis in 2003, says that in the absence of scientific certainty we must err on the side of caution and protect workers. In Canada, two nurses and a physician were among the casualties of SARS, and many other health workers were infected. No parties in the health system wish to see that again.
The infectious disease specialists – Dr. Jeannette Comeau, Dr. Ian Davis and Dr. Lynn Johnston – explained their strategy for the imminent arrival of COVID-19 in our province, and how we can best ensure the health and safety of the frontline workers delivering care. The specialists emphasized the fact that evidence suggests that COVID-19 is a spread through droplet and direct contact, and is not an airborne pathogen.
