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VULNERABLE480 compensation unless they are actually ill. The federal Emergency Response Benefit can provide income if they stay at home because of the hazards involved in going to work, but if they quit their jobs they are not eligible,28 and it is legally unclear whether they would remain eligible if they were fired for failing to return to work during the decon- finement period, despite verbal assurances from Minister Freeland.29 Stories from the Trenches In both Ontario and Quebec it has become abundantly clear that ade- quate supplies of PPE, including appropriate respiratory protections and gowns, were not available.30 Although priority was given to the acute care hospitals in Quebec, supplies were insufficient and some- times obsolete,31 and workers in long-term care facilities were denied supplies,32 which, if available, were sometimes kept under lock and key.33 Workers and residents paid the price.34 By mid-April, so many workers were absent in the health care sector that Quebec officials, empowered by a decree that overrode collective agreements,35 ordered You Don’t” (2019) 29:3 New Solutions: A J Occupational & Environmental Health Policy 317. 28. Government of Canada, supra note 10. 29. Mark Gollom, “Anxious About COVID-19 and Returning to Work? Here’s What You Need to Know”, CBC News (6 May 2020), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/ business/work-return-coronavirus-employers-employees-1.5555593>. 30. Nicolas Bérubé, “Manque de masques: des médecins lancent un cri d’alarme aux entreprises”, La Presse (26 March 2020), online: <https://www.lapresse.ca/ covid-19/202003/26/01-5266541-manque-de-masques-des-medecins-lancent-un- cri-dalarme-aux-entreprises.php>. 31. Thomas Gerbet, “Des masques périmés depuis 11 ans qui craquent sur le visage des infirmières”, Ici Radio Canada (28 April 2020), online: <https://ici.radio-canada. ca/nouvelle/1697940/masques-perimes-covid-n95-elastique-hopital-lakeshore>. 32. Patrick Lagacé, “Chronique Covid-19  : Les vieux, les malades les plus contagieux”, La Presse+ (23 April 2020), online: <https://www.lapresse.ca/covid-19/202004/22/01- 5270512-les-vieux-les-malades-les-plus-contagieux.php>; Isabelle Hachey, “Cinq jours en zone rouge”, La Presse (3 May 2020), online: <https://www.lapresse.ca/ covid-19/202005/02/01-5271901-cinq-jours-en-zone-rouge.php>. 33. Patrick Martin et al, “De la reconnaissance dans les soins”, Le Devoir (24 April 2020), online: <https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/577628/de-la-reconnaissance- dans-les-soins>. 34. Alexis Riopel, “Une hécatombe hors norme dans les CHSLD du Québec”, Le Devoir (25 April 2020), online: <https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/577716/une- hecatombe-hors-norme>. 35. Gouvernement du Québec,  L’arrêté  numéro 2020-007  de  la  ministre  de  la  Santé  et  des  Services  sociaux  en  date  du  21  mars  2020 (Québec: Gouvernement du Québec, 21 March 2020).