People and storefronts on Yonge St., March 3, 2021.Fred Lum/the Globe and Mail
Toronto Public Health back-pedaled late Friday in the face of criticism it planned to keep secret the names of workplaces ordered shut because of COVID-19, even though it has for months posted online a list of businesses that have been suffering outbreaks.
The power to close businesses was assumed this week by the city’s Medical Officer of Health, Eileen de Villa, who signed a Section 22 class order under provincial legislation, requiring workplaces to notify Toronto Public Health if five or more employees test positive for COVID-19 within a 14-day period. The order came into effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
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By early Friday evening, though, it was unclear whether any businesses had in fact been shut down and public-health communications staff said in the late afternoon there was no plan “at this time” to make such information public. The decision sparked immediate criticism from some in the medical community, and the chair of the city’s Board of Health, Councillor Joe Cressy, said he would push to have it reversed.
“In a pandemic, transparency is essential,” Mr. Cressy said.
“If a decision is made to close a business for public health [reasons] to prevent the spread of a virus, then the public deserves to know. I have raised with Dr. de Villa the need for public reporting of these orders and I will be discussing with colleagues at the city how we can ensure that full and transparent reporting takes place.”
Late Friday evening, Dr. de Villa’s Twitter account announced a change of course.
“Toronto Public Health will regularly report workplaces that are closed under the new Section 22 Order,” read a Tweet posted at 9:54 p.m.
The Section 22 order allows Dr. de Villa to order closed or partly closed businesses that have five or more cases of COVID-19 within a two-week period. The order also allows a shutdown if there is “evidence of transmission other than” five or more cases. Certain workplaces, such as those involving first responders and critical infrastructure, may be exempt even if experiencing an outbreak.
The only requirement under the order that might indirectly inform the public about any such shutdowns is that businesses ordered to close must post notices at each entrance.
Zain Chagla, an infectious-diseases physician at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and associate professor at McMaster University, had said it wouldn’t “make sense” for Toronto Public Health not to publicize the names of businesses being shuttered.
“Right now, you want people to have as much information as possible,” he said. “Public health is overloaded. If a business has a connection to another business that has another outbreak, you want people to be empowered to have that information, as compared to hiding it.”
But other medical experts were less certain about the need to make the information publicly available.
“There are upsides and downsides,” said Andrew Morris, an infectious-disease physician at Toronto’s University Health Network.
“If you take a pretty hard approach in terms of closing businesses, and being aggressive, then I’m not sure that naming them gets you much of an advantage,” he said. “You have to make the argument that that is a true benefit.”
Isaac Bogoch, an infectious-diseases physician who sits on Ontario’s vaccination task force, said he supports transparency, but some businesses may be unfairly punished by being named. Given that COVID-19 is a very contagious infection, even workplaces such as hospitals have had outbreaks, he said.
“It’s tough because you can do everything right and still lose,” he said. “You imagine there are potential negative consequences if your business is published and publicly shamed … and it might not be warranted.”
While Toronto releases the names of workplaces experiencing outbreaks, neighbouring Peel Region currently does not. However, Peel has pledged to post online the names of businesses that will be closed under its own Section 22 order, which also came into effect on Friday. Ashleigh Hawkins, a spokeswoman for Peel, said the region’s order will only apply to large businesses. She said business names, addresses, date of closure and whether the closures are full or partial will be posted online on Peel’s website as of Saturday at noon.
Since January, the names of Toronto workplaces with at least 20 employees with COVID-19 have been listed on the city’s website.
According to that list, there are currently 35 workplaces in the city known to be experiencing an outbreak of at least five cases. These include an Amazon warehouse, three Canada Post locations, major grocery-store chains and mattress company Tempur Sealy Canada.
In its statement Friday afternoon, Toronto Public Health did not explain why businesses closed under the order would not be named.
“If there are changes to this process or a risk to the public, we will share this information publicly,” said the unsigned statement forwarded by staff late in the afternoon. “At this time, TPH will not be posting the workplaces that have been closed under the Section 22 Class Order.”
Editor’s note: Editor's note: A previously published version of this story incorrectly reported that a COVID-19 outbreak at an Amazon workplace was linked to the transit system in Brampton, Ont. This version has been corrected.
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