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VULNERABLE428
to remedy the failed promise of the last centuryâs deinstitutionaliza-
tion movement.
The institutional and custodial sites that continue to warehouse
persons with disabilities have become infectious hotspots.39 Preventing
new outbreaks in those congregate settings must be an urgent priority
for any strategy intending to flatten the curve. Viruses spread rapidly
in these confined spaces. Cleaning of surfaces in both public rooms
and living quarters may not meet public health standards. Physical
distancing is impossible, and â ⊠unlike cruise ships, people in con-
gregate living settings including the staff who work there transfer dis-
ease into the general population.â40
Monitoring, prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in con-
gregate settings must be narrowly tailored, non-intrusive and least
restrictive of human rights. Restrictions to personal libertyâinclud-
ing through the inappropriate deployment of mental health legisla-
tion41âare not a substitute for adequate prevention and raise serious
equality and liberty considerations. Once the virus is inside an insti-
tution, staff may be tempted to use heavy-handed, dangerous, and
correctional-inspired responses, including seclusion and lockdowns.
Even if intended to protect vulnerable persons from transmis-
sion, visitor restrictions can be experienced as punitive, limit over-
sight, and expose vulnerable persons to additional abuse or neglect.
They impair access to family members,42 substitute decision mak-
ers, or counsel. Other disability institutions have expanded bans
to include communication devices, such as iPads.43 A recent judi-
39. Danny Hakim, ââItâs Hit Our Front Doorâ: Homes for the Disabled See a Surge of
Covid-19â, New York Times (8 April 2020), online: <www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/
nyregion/coronavirus-disabilities-group-homes.html>; Richard Warnica, âJane
Philpott on Life Inside the Care Home Where 95% of the Residents Have
COVID-19â, National Post (1 May 2020), online: <nationalpost.com/news/jane-
philpott-on-life-inside-the-care-home-where-95-per-cent-of-the-residents-have-
covid-19>.
40. R v JR, 2020 ONSC 1938 at para 29.
41. Brendan D Kelly, âEmergency Mental Health Legislation in Response to
the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic in Ireland: Urgency, Necessity and
Proportionalityâ (2020) 70 Intl JL & Psychiatry.
42. Talia Ricci, ââHe Canât Understand Why Heâs not Seeing His Familyâ: Mother of
Non-Verbal Son Begs for Visitor Exemptionâ, CBC News (4 May 2020), online:
<www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/mother-of-disabled-son-begs-for-visitor-
exception-1.55\1544>.
43. Sue Ann Levy, âHospital Bans Disabled Patient from Using iPad Calling it
âSurveillance Toolââ, Toronto Sun (1 May 2020), online: <torontosun.com/news/
local-news/levy-hospital-bans-disabled-patient-from-using-ipad-calling-it-sur-
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Title
- VULNERABLE
- Subtitle
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Authors
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Publisher
- Ottawa Press
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Pages
- 648
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- International