Canadian Public Health Experts Discuss Pros and Cons of Disclosing COVID Outbreaks at Businesses

An article by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) discussed the ethics and concerns of disclosing the names of businesses where COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred. When an outbreak of infection at a workplace is identified, standard public health practice is to publicly reveal the name of the workplace only if all contacts cannot be traced and a risk to the public is identified. 

In Canada, many larger cities such as Toronto and Hamilton have a reporting policy. In contrast, Ontario has no approach to reporting since the decision is left up to administrators of local health units. The authors of the article talk about the pros and cons of providing information to the public that could be seen as essential in letting a person make an informed decision on whether they want to visit a particular business. 

However, there are also many reasons that businesses may not publicly state that their workplace had an outbreak, the most prominent being people’s right to privacy. The article believes that it is vital to protect workers from stigma, public shaming, and harassment that could be associated with COVID-19. "Moreover, businesses that are outed as having an outbreak of infectious disease may face serious consequences that in turn may lead to loss of employment for workers and downstream effects for local economies," said the article.

An argument for letting employers know about outbreaks is that people are more likely to cooperate with efforts of the public health agencies to control an outbreak by allowing rapid access and intervention to protect workers. Ontario’s stay-at-home order expired on June 2nd, but existing restrictions on gathering, businesses, services, and activities will remain in effect for the time being. This includes limiting outdoor gatherings to up to five people, limiting essential retail capacity to 25%, restricting non-essential retail to do curbside pick-up and delivery, and prohibiting indoor gatherings. 

In the US, there are 28 OSHA-approved State Plans that set standards and enforcement programs and must be at least as effective as OSHA in protecting workers and in preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, and death. 

In conclusion, the article in the CMAJ states that more collaboration is needed between public health agencies and workplaces to ensure that such things as paid sick leave and better infection controls come into play.