From the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic, long-term care homes and retirement homes have
been identified as a priority setting for enhanced precaution and measures to protect vulnerable residents
who are at the highest risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19. This included the requirement under
Ontario regulation (O.Reg. )146/20 for long-term care homes and O. Reg. 158/20 for retirement homes, to
limit staff to a single location as of April 2020. In addition to this requirement, Dr. Wajid Ahmed, Medical
Officer of Health for Windsor-Essex recommended the restriction of all healthcare workers to a single
work location to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Recently the provincial government has amended O.Reg 146/20 and O.Reg 158/20, as well as made
updates to Directive #3 for Long-Term Care Homes under the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 and
Directive #2 for Health Care Providers. Significant changes included amendments to the outbreak
definition of long-term care and retirement homes as well as change to the limit on work. These
regulations must be considered in conjunction with rules and requirements set out under the applicable
regulation of the Reopening Ontario Act (currently O.Reg 82/20) for all businesses and workplaces that are
open, including the recommendations and instruction of the Medical Officer of Health.
Given the on-going identification of positive COVID-19 cases occurring within the community, and the
increasing number of Variant of Concern COVID-19 infections being identified, as Medical Officer of Health
for Windsor-Essex, I am directing staff of Long-Term Care Homes and Retirement Homes to continue
working at one Long-Term Care Home or Retirement Home regardless of COVID-19 immunization status.
My direction/instruction also applies to all health workers, whereby they should limit their work to a
single location.