Updates on the novel coronavirus

​The OHA developed this webpage to keep members apprised of recent Ministry of Health updates regarding the novel coronavirus, and to highlight relevant resources for members. It is important to note that the health system is well-prepared to respond to this type of issue. As the situation unfolds, officials from the Ministry and public health, including the Chief Medical Officer of Health, remain in close contact with health care providers and partners across the system, including the OHA. This includes daily stakehholder calls to share information, guidance, and address any challenges, should they arise.

Related OHA Communications

Please note that some of the bulletins below are members only. Please sign in to OHA.com/news to view all bulletins.

• September 16, 2021 - Services, Resources, Guidance Bulletin
• September 13, 2021 - Member Survey: Mandatory Vaccination Policies (members only)
• September 10, 2021 - Member Call with Ontario Health on Fall Preparedness (members only)
• September 9, 2021 - Services, Resources, Guidance Bulletin
• September 2, 2021 - Services, Resources, Guidance Bulletin
• September 1, 2021 - OHA Federal Advocacy Resources for Members
• August 26, 2021 - Services, Resources, Guidance Bulletin
• August 23, 2021 - Directive #6: Resources and Supports for Hospital Members
• August 23, 2021 - Patient Ombudsman Releases Special Report and other COVID-19 Updates
  
• August 19, 2021 - Resource Guide for Directive #6
• August 18, 2021 - CMOH Issues Directive #6
• August 17, 2021 - New Measures on Healthcare Worker Vaccination, Member Call and other updates
• August 12, 2021 - Services, Resources, Guidance Bulletin (members only)
• August 9, 2021 - Hospital Vaccination Status Data Reporting and Upcoming OHA Member Call (members only)
• August 5, 2021 - Services, Resources, Guidance Bulletin
• July 29, 2021 - Services, Resources, Guidance Bulletin
• July 28, 2021 - Government Announces Funding for Surgical Recovery
• July 27, 2021 - 2021-22 Hospital Incremental Expenses Process Memo (members only)
• July 22, 2021 - OHA Survey on Impact of Incremental COVID-19 Expenses (members only)
• July 20, 2021 - OHA Advocacy on Reimbursement of COVID-19 Expenses (members only)
• June 20, 2021 - Unions Announce Collective Bargaining Rallies
• July 15, 2021 - Services, Resources, Guidance Bulletin
• July 12, 2021 - COVID-19 Update Bulletin
• July 5, 2021 - Temporary Summer Expansion of Physician Locum Programs

To access earlier bulletins from January 2020 - June 2021, please click here.

OHA members can direct their questions to Melissa Prokopy, Director, Legal, Policy and Professional Issues, at mprokopy@oha.com or 416-205-1565.

OHA Resources

Bioethics Resources

• Resources from the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto are available here.
• Canadian Medical Association: Framework for Ethical Decision Making During the Coronavirus Pandemic
• New England Journal of Medicine:
  Emanuel, E. J., Persad, G., Upshur, R., Thome, B., Parker, M., Glickman, A., Zhang, C., Boyle, C., Smith, M., & Phillips, J. P. (2020). Fair Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources in the Time of Covid-19. The New England Journal of Medicine, 382(21), 2049–2055. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsb2005114
  • This article outlines ethical values and guiding principles, which determine six specific recommendations for allocating medical resources in the Covid-19 pandemic: maximize benefits; prioritize health workers; do not allocate on a first-come, first-served basis; be responsive to evidence; recognize research participation; and apply the same principles to all Covid-19 and non–Covid-19 patients.
• The Hastings Center (2020): Responding to Covid-19 as a Regional Public Health Challenge: Preliminary Guidelines for Regional Collaboration Involving Hospitals
• World Health Organization: Ethics and COVID-19

Government Resources

• General Ministry of Health Resources
• Website: www.ontario.ca/coronavirus (COVID-19 Dashboard)
• Directives: All current Directives issued by the MOH are posted here
• Guidance documents: Visit the MOH website for health sector guidance, including the most up-to-date guidance on vaccines.
• Communications: For all government communications related to COVID-19, including Command Table summaries, memos, and advisories, visit the Ministry's website.
• HHR Resources: Health Workforce Matching Portal
• Ontario Health Workforce Matching Portal One-Pager for Health Care Providers
• Training Guide for Health Care Providers
• FAQ for Health Care Providers
• Online workplace PPE supplier directory
• Lab Testing: Testing Guidance Update (August 25, 2021)
• Testing and Clearance: Quick Reference document  (September 14, 2021)
• Case Definition: Case Definition for Novel Coronavirus (May 21, 2021)
• Patient screening: COVID-19 Patient Screening Guidance Document (August 26, 2020)
• COVID-19 Reference Document for Symptoms (August 26, 2021)

• Case and contact management:

• Updated guidance document for Management of Cases and Contacts of COVID-19 in Ontario (August 11, 2021)

• High-risk contact flow chart (August 11, 2021)

• COVID-19 Fully Immunized and Previously Positive Individuals: Case, Contact and Outbreak Management Interim Guidance (September 14, 2021)

• Variant of Concern: Case, Contact and Outbreak Management Interim Guidance (February 26, 2021)

• Appendix 3: Daily Clinical Update Form – Acute Care Setting (June 23, 2020)

• Acute care guidance (other MOH guidance documents are available here)
• Guidance for Acute Care (June 15, 2020) 
• Directive 5 for public hospitals - Updated as of April 7, 2021
•  Directive 1 to Health Care Providers (March 30, 2020)
• The CMOH Directive #2 (April 20, 2021): Updated from May 26, 2020. Requires all non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures to cease, with the exception of surgeries and procedures performed in pediatric specialty hospitals. Emergent and urgent surgeries will not be impacted. View Directive 2 FAQs. 
• COVID-19 Operational Requirements: Health Sector Restart: Outlines measures that must be in place for the provision of in-person health services by health care providers. (June 15, 2020)
• Also see below, OH guidance documents.
• Resources on Hospital Finances 
• FAQ from MOH Webinar on May 19, 2021
  
• Presentation from MOH webinar on May 4, 2021
  
• Non-Critical Care Bed Capacity Activation Attestation
  
• Capital Settlement Report - COVID One-Time Reimbursement of Capital Incremental Expenses
  
• Operating Settlement Report- COVID One-Time Reimbursement of Operating Incremental Expenses
  
• Capital Settlement Report - COVID One-Time Reimbursement of Capital Incremental Expenses - Excel
  
• Operating Settlement Report - COVID One-Time Reimbursement of Operating Incremental Expenses - Excel
  
• FAQ from MOH Webinar on March 25, 2021
  
• Presentation from MOH Webinar on March 25, 2021
  
• Other guidance:
• Div. Ct. Decision on Hospital Visitor Restrictions
• Divisional Court of Ontario Decision in Sprague v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario - Backgrounder
• Long-Term Care:
• Updated Directive #3 to Long-Term Care Homes (July 14, 2021) - Reflects new testing guidance and strengthened screening, testing and outbreak management
• Resuming Visits in Long-Term Care Homes - September 2, 2020
• Control of Respiratory Infection Outbreaks in Long-Term Care Homes, 2018
• Minister's Directive: COVID-19: Supporting Long-Term Care Homes (April 24, 2020)
• Emergency Orders Issued on April 15 re. LTC: here, here and here.
• Ontario Health Guidance: Resources are posted on the OH website

• Optimizing the Supply of Personal Protective Equipment During the COVID-19 Pandemic (February 25, 2021)

• Public Health Ontario (PHO) resources:
• Public Health Ontario (PHO) has updated their site related to COVID-19 testing including an updated list of accepted swab types, including specimen collection and handling.  Additional resources from PHO are available to assist hospitals in the triage, screening, patient management, and testing in acute care settings
• Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) resources:
• Latest travel advice
• Information for health professionals (e.g., details on transmission, detection and reporting, infection prevention and control, and treatment)
• Health Canada has released an FAQ document regarding Subsection 56(1) Class Exemption for Patients, Practitioners and Pharmacists Prescribing and Providing Controlled Substances in Canada during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
• Public Resources:
• View PHO's Public Resources
• Patient and Visitor signage is available on the Ministry's website (scroll to the bottom of the page)
• Resources for Ontarians Experiencing Mental Health and Addictions Issues During the Pandemic
• COVID-19 Health Literacy Project: This initiative was started by a first-year medical student at Harvard Medical School, and quickly expanded into a national coalition of over 150 medical students representing over 35 institutions and 34 languages. In an effort to help patients from vulnerable communities know when and how to seek care, they created and translated accessible COVID-19 information into different languages. All their materials are reviewed and vetted by faculty members at Harvard Medical School, and are created in collaboration with Harvard Health Publishing.

System Partner/Hospital Resources & Other Resources

• Canadian Institute for Health Information:
• ICD-10-CA coding direction COVID-19 (French)
• CorHealth: COVID-19 Resource Centre
• Covid Care Learning: Educational resources have been developed and posted on www.covidcarelearning.ca to assist organizations that are continuing to plan for redeployment to the meet the needs for COVID-19 care. This website was created with the support of the Ontario healthcare and education communities to provide key resources to prepare healthcare professionals who will be treating Ontarians impacted by COVID-19. These resources are intended for anyone in the hospital or long-term care sector, including those involved in the care of COVID-19 and other critically ill patients or residents. Read a previous OHA bulletin for instructions on loggin in.
• COVID-19 Visit Risk tool: This 10-minute quiz was developed by researchers at the National Institute of Ageing, a public policy research centre at Ryerson University in Toronto, and walks you through exactly how risky your planned interactions with friends or loved ones are when it comes to COVID-19.  
• Innovative Medicines Canada COVID-19 Resource Centre
• The website will feature the many contributions from members who are testing for COVID-19, discovering new treatments and vaccines, and will also contain a section on drug shortages. It  will be updated daily with new and relevant information.
• Intubation Boxes: Klick is offering free intubation boxes, delivered at no cost to hospitals. Click here for more information.
• Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission: The dedicated resource site features a list of briefings and meetings (with transcripts) and updates to date.
• Michael Garron Hospital: Checklist (sample) for supporting LTC homes (prevention workstreams)
• Ontario College of Family Physicians: Resource Page
• Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
• Physician Resource page
• FAQ: Updated regularly to provide advice/guidance on key issues CPSO is hearing about and where joint messaging could be helpful.
• Ontario Community Support Association: New Community Support Program Provides Help for Vulnerable Seniors in Isolation
• Ontario Medical Association:
• Summary of Guidance for Primary Care Providers in Community-Based Settings (OMA)
• BookJane - OMA's technology solution to help manage physician demand in hospitals and other healthcare facilities (Registration and User Guide)
• Research- related resources: Two recently launched websites allow users to submit their COVID-19 questions to be examined through a network of researchers.
• Rapid Evidence Access Link (REAL), created by an interdisciplinary team of health systems students and professionals, scans credible evidence sources and produces concise notes on a variety of COVID-19 queries. It focuses on operational and tactical questions from individual health service providers and clinicians.
• The COVID-19 Evidence Synthesis Network is comprised of organizations in Ontario's evidence synthesis and knowledge translation community. It provides high-quality, relevant, and timely synthesized research evidence about COVID-19 to inform decision makers as the pandemic continues, with a focus on strategic policy and program questions.
• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre:
• Diagnosis and Management of First Case of COVID-19 in Canada: Lessons applied from SARS
• What can early Canadian experience screening for COVID-19 teach us about how to prepare for a pandemic?
• University Health Network: Click here to access a set of resources developed by UHN featuring tips to ensure inclusion and equity for marginalized community members during COVID-19.
• University of Toronto: University of Toronto Engineering researchers have developed Redeploy, a tool that optimizes and automates the matching of available staff to jobs that need to be filled throughout the hospital.

Global Resources

• Health Maps
• https://www.healthmap.org/ncov2019/
• John's Hopkins Heat Map

• Centre for Disease Control and Prevention:
• Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of N95 Respirators

• CDC: Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19 (Supporting yourself, children, responders and people released from quarantine)

• NEJM Article: Fair Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources in the Time of Covid-19

• WHO Resources
• To increase access to reliable information, WHO has worked with WhatsApp and Facebook to launch a new WHO Health Alert messaging service. This service will provide the latest news and information on COVID-19, including details on symptoms and how to protect yourself. The Health Alert service is now available in English and will be introduced in other languages next week. To access it, send the word "hi" to the following number on WhatsApp: +41 798 931 892.
• Interim Guidance: Rational use of personal protective equipment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• Situation Reports
• Technical Guidance
• Coronavirus Mythbusters (Including infographics for download)
• WHO guidance support for mental and psychological well-being during COVID-19
• Case Report Form for suspected cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) in children and adolescents temporally related to COVID-19
• WHO Online Education

• NEW - Long-term care facilities in the context of COVID-19: The COVID-19 pandemic affects older people disproportionately, especially those living in long-term care facilities (LTCF) with significant impact on mortality and morbidity. Concerted action is needed to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 by enhancing infection prevention and control (IPC) measures within LTCF. 

• Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19): This course provides information on what facilities should be doing to be prepared to respond to a case of an emerging respiratory virus such as the novel coronavirus, how to identify a case once it occurs, and how to properly implement IPC measures to ensure there is no further transmission to HCW or to other patients and others in the healthcare facility.
  This training is intended for healthcare workers and public health professionals, as it is focused on infection prevention and control. 
• Emerging respiratory viruses, including 2019-nCoV: methods for detection, prevention, response and control: This course provides a general introduction to 2019-nCoV and emerging respiratory viruses and is intended for public health professionals, incident managers and personnel working for the United Nations, international organizations and NGOs. WHO teams are working to translate the resources into all WHO official languages and Portuguese. Many countries have also initiated translation into their own local languages.