To prepare for a second wave of COVID-19, RNAO CEO Doris Grinspun is calling on the government of Ontario to adopt several long-term care recommendations by July 31. In an op-ed in The Globe and Mail, Grinspun writes that during the first wave of the virus, there was a lack of early prevention measures and health-risk awareness. “Any preparation carried out was targeted to the already resource-rich hospital sector, leaving the other sectors to fend and fail for themselves,” writes Grinspun, adding there is no time to wait until April, when the results of the recently announced commission looking into how the LTC system responded to COVID-19 delivers its report. Included in RNAO’s recommendations to the government are calls to implement a Nursing Home Basic Care Guarantee that provides four hours of direct care and a richer skill-mix of regulated and personal support staff in nursing homes, ensuring personal protective equipment is fully available to all staff in long-term care and other facilities caring for vulnerable persons. RNAO is also calling for immediate and full implementation of the five-step plan proposed by RNAO for reuniting families in long-term care. In addition, less invasive surveillance testing, immediately isolating residents with the virus, and ensuring facilities have quarantine plans in place and single-occupant rooms have personal bathroom facilities. (The Globe and Mail, July 20)