Should Canada cut COVID-19 isolation times? Business, labour groups divided

Canadian business and labour groups are at odds over preferred isolation times for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 after the U.S. shortened the period to five days.

Canadian business and labour groups are at odds over preferred isolation times for people who have tested positive for COVID-19.

The question has renewed urgency after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommended on Monday that Americans with COVID-19 should isolate for five days rather than 10 if they’re not showing symptoms.

Ontario’s top doctor postponed a news conference Tuesday so the province can review isolation guidelines, while Quebec has already relaxed its isolation guidelines for health-care workers who have tested positive.

It would be welcome news if provinces were to follow a similar policy as the CDC, said Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses president Dan Kelly, because the labour shortage is a “massive” issue for small and medium businesses.

“The more that we can safely limit the amount of time we have to take people out of the workforce, the better.”

The CDC decision has been criticized as responding too much to business interests, as some such as Delta Airline’s chief executive asked specifically for the reduced isolation period, but Kelly said he hasn’t seen any Canadian provinces prioritizing the economy over public health during this pandemic.

The reduced isolation time is part of a need to think more long-term about the virus, Kelly said.

“At a certain point Canadians have a difficult choice to make. We’re going to have to figure out how to live with it, live with whatever form of COVID is there, keep society open, or we’re going to have to just continue to shower buckets and buckets of money at shuttered businesses.”