I’m not sure how much to read into this, but it has to mean something, right? It certainly makes me think twice about praising Doug Ford’s decision making skills, and if people are somewhat less inclined to take the government’s advice after this it’s not hard to understand why. This is pretty much the last thing we need while the province is out here setting daily infection records. I know Ford fancies himself a man of the people, but none of the reasonable people are going to think less of him were he to tone it down a tad for a while considering the circumstances.
An open-door policy at his Albion Road constituency office led to an outbreak of COVID-19 among staff, Premier Doug Ford says.
As first reported on thestar.com, three workers serving residents of Etobicoke North tested positive for the virus, forcing the closure of the office this week to operate virtually.
As Ontario reported 896 new infections and nine more deaths Friday, Ford told his daily briefing that he bucked a trend by allowing people other than staff into the office.
“A lot of MPPs, and I have no problem with that, kept their doors locked. We took a different approach,” added the premier, who was not in the office in the last two weeks and was not exposed.
“We kept them open. So we had a few visitors come in and that’s where they believe they contracted COVID…they’re doing OK, that’s the most important thing.”The cases were confirmed by Toronto Public Health and the office shut “as soon as there was concern,” said Ford spokesperson Ivana Yelich.
The office is in northwest Toronto where case positivity rates for COVID-19 are higher, and the latest statistics show public health officials have been unable to trace the source of 65 per cent of infections citywide.
