Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to thank all of my colleagues for their questions.
I would just like to say that it is a very hard time in Ontario. Madam Chair, you're right. The average test positivity rate is 10.8%, but in some communities those numbers are much higher. My heart goes out to everybody who has worked so hard, who has put community and country before themselves—our front-line health care workers and our essential workers. As I've said, we were in a pandemic in the summer and we're still in a pandemic. We should hear from the Deputy Prime Minister.
I was fortunate to be part of a very special Zoom meeting on Saturday with our Sri Lankan Tamil seniors of Etobicoke to celebrate Tamil new year but also to bring people together virtually to hear about their experiences during the pandemic and to talk about the importance of getting vaccinated.
How many times have I raised seniors and long-term care? Canada has the worst record for COVID-19 deaths in long-term care homes out of all wealthy nations. In Canada, between March 2020 and February 2021, more than 80,000 residents and staff members of long-term care homes were infected. Outbreaks occurred in 2,500 care homes. Ontario experienced the largest increase in excess deaths at 28%, while B.C. had the smallest, at just 4%.
That's what my community cares about. My community cares about knowing that we are doing everything possible to protect our seniors, those who helped build this country. We had an absolute tragedy take place last spring in long-term care homes. That tragedy was repeated in the second wave in long-term care. This should not have been a surprise. Infections, whether it is influenza or gastroenteritis, strike quickly in long-term care homes.
Provinces had warnings. They saw what happened in Europe before COVID-19 hit here. Ontario was aware as early as March 2020 that 98% of COVID-19 deaths in Italy had involved elderly people with pre-existing health conditions. That risk should have been recognized.
Yesterday, we heard from Ontario's Auditor General that the province's decision to delay implementing mandatory measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care homes may have contributed to the devastating toll. The province initially provided to long-term care homes direction on infection prevention and control in February 2020, but it was framed as guidance. It was ultimately up to home operators to decide what actions to take to protect the elderly, frail and ailing residents. By the time an emergency order was issued in early April, requiring that all staff and essential visitors wear masks, there had already been 500 confirmed cases among residents, almost 350 confirmed cases among staff and almost 100 deaths. It would take another two weeks to issue another emergency order restricting staff from working in more than one home. That order came nearly a month after officials in British Columbia took similar action.
In light of how quickly COVID-19 spread in long-term care homes, every day that implementing mandatory requirements was delayed made a difference in the effort to control its spread. That sickens me. There was warning, and not enough was done. There was not clear direction. Actions were delayed, and the necessary inspection to make sure that homes were complying with containment measures was not done.
Instead of focusing on a partisan motion, we should be talking about what Canadians care about, that we need to do better next time because there will be a next time. It is time to write this report on the study, to move on to being better prepared for the future. That's the job of this committee. If there is not a way to go forward, like my dear colleague and friend Mr. Turnbull, I believe we should be inviting the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Youth.
Just as I've been doing since the beginning of March, I will ground my remarks around the pandemic. The issue is the number one concern of Etobicoke North, the burning issue for our country and the world, one of the two global crises the world is facing, which of course are COVID-19 and the climate.
Let me talk for a moment about what is happening worldwide with COVID. Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to intensify. It's—