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The hardest hit sector was health care and social services where 13.3% of all workers were absent in January. That represented a 34.3% increase in absences.
Ottawa (10 Feb. 2022) — Statistics Canada data released last week provides a clear sense of why the latest COVID-19 variant has been so stressful for essential workers. According to the data, the percentage of workers absent from work due to illness or disability in January was 37% higher than the average. The percentage of workers who were absent due to illness or disability was the highest on record.
For many essential workers that meant that they were either more likely to be ill or having to work longer hours as a result of colleagues being ill.
Health care and social services sector hardest hit
The hardest hit sector was health care and social services where 13.3% of all workers were absent in January. That represented a 34.3% increase in absences.
The role public services play, like health care, mean that an increase in absences will have far more impact than it will in most sectors. When people need medical treatment urgently, the staff who are able to work have to do the work — even if it means overwork with horrendous hours.
If measures to slow the spread of COVID are removed to quickly essential workers will pay the price
What has been a problem throughout the pandemic is provincial governments removing measures prematurely to slow the spread of COVID-19. The result has been unnecessary increases in infection rates, unnecessary pressure on our health care system, and more risk for workers who don’t have the option of working from home.
It has meant the gains that were made because of the sacrifices people, who respected public health made, were lost.
Now, several provincial government have announced that they will remove measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 even though the Omicron wave has not ended. There is a real danger that this will extend the Omicron wave, the absences and the stress high levels of illness have caused for workers in the health care sector and other essential jobs.
It’s not how we should be treating the people we were praising as heroes less than 2 years ago.