THUNDER BAY — The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the inability of small, rural Northern Ontario municipalities to cope with prolonged emergencies, a new report says.
The report by researchers at the University of Guelph just west of Toronto found that local emergency response management during the two-year pandemic, which began in earnest early in 2020, was under strain.
"By the end of March 2020, each Northern Ontario health unit had reported a (COVID-19) case, all linked to international travel," the report noted.
"The study's findings underscore challenges common to many rural communities, such as unequal investment in emergency preparedness," lead report researcher Amanda Mongeon said on Wednesday in a news release.
The report noted unique challenges Northerners face compared to their southern Ontario counterparts, including a shortage of key health-care personnel, such as doctors, and that "only 73 per cent of Northern Ontario households have quality broadband (internet)."
"Rural needs are different from urban needs, providing evidence that blanket policies or one-size-fits-all approaches to emergencies do not work," the news release said.
"Disruptions" like the pandemic, economic upheaval, extreme weather and natural disasters "are now the norm, not the exception," Mongeon added.
Over a two-year period, researchers focused on the pandemic's impact on seven small Northern municipalities, including Dorion, Terrace Bay, Hornepayne, and White River.
They aimed "to re-frame the way we think about disruptive emergencies to better prepare, particularly in rural communities," the news release said.
The researchers concluded that rural emergency response management strategies need to be clarified, enhanced and modernized.
The findings were shared with Northern Ontario health units and municipal associations.
The Chronicle Journal / Local Journalism Initiative
