School of Cities / Research / Journal Article

Systematically omitting indoor air quality: sub-standard guidance for shelters, group homes and long-term care in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic

By Amy Katz, Tianyuan Li, LLana James, Jeffrey Siegel, and Patricia O’Campo.
Critical Public Health
October 2023

In their study, Katz et al. (2023) examine Public Health Ontario’s (PHO) response to the increasing evidence of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in congregate settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Established partially as a response to the failures during the 2003 SARS outbreak, PHO is mandated to provide scientific advice and address health inequities in Ontario. Despite warnings and literature suggesting airborne transmission, PHO’s guidance for settings like long-term care facilities lacked essential indoor air quality (IAQ) measures, such as ventilation to mitigate airborne transmission.

The article highlights PHO’s failure to incorporate precautionary measures recommended in the Ontario SARS Commission report from 17 years ago, emphasizing frustration at the neglect: PHO’s delayed inclusion of basic IAQ measures until at least June 2022 contributed directly to health inequities during COVID-19. The article concludes by urging further research to explore if similar oversights occurred elsewhere, emphasizing the critical role of PHO’s omission in exacerbating health risks for both workers and residents in congregate settings.

Read the full article on the journal’s website

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