August 4, 2020, Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, Vic Fedeli, announced a $2 million investment in Clean Works Medical and Pure Life Machinery from the Ontario Together Fund. This investment will enable a significant scale-up in the production of Ontario-made personal protective equipment (PPE) sanitation devices.

Following this afternoon’s announcement, Premier Ford responded to questions from media and provided an update on the province’s ongoing response to COVID-19.

Earlier today, the Ministry of Health issued a news release to confirm that the public health region of Windsor-Essex will remain in stage two of reopening as the province works with other levels of government to detect COVID-19 and slow its spread in the region.

Further Details

Ontario Together Funding for PPE Sanitization Device

This afternoon, Premier Ford and Minister Fedeli announced $2 million in support from the Ontario Together Fund for Clean Works Medical and Pure Life Machinery. This investment will enable producers of the Clean Flow Healthcare Mini, a portable PPE sanitation device, to nearly triple their current rates of production.

The Clean Flow Healthcare Mini is approved by Health Canada and applies technology for disinfecting fresh produce to the process of sanitizing PPE. The technology, which uses UV light, hydrogen peroxide, and ozone for sanitation, destroys up to 99.99 per cent of viruses on surfaces. The device can decontaminate up to 800 N95 masks per hour and can also be used to sanitize other PPE.

Questions from Media – Response to COVID-19

When asked whether the provincial guidelines on social circles would be relaxed soon, Premier Ford responded that Ontario’s COVID-19 Command Table wants to keep the maximum size of social circles at 10 people for now. He added that he will raise this issue again with the Table but reiterated that the pandemic is not over and Ontarians must remain vigilant until a vaccine is developed.

In response to questions about parents who are concerned to send their children back to school in September, Premier Ford said he understands and shares parents’ concerns. He emphasized that Ontario’s back-to-school plan was developed by representatives from the University Health Network (UHN) and SickKids, rather than by the government. He also reminded parents that anyone who feels uncomfortable about sending their children to school will continue to have the option of remote learning from home.

Update on Windsor-Essex

Earlier today, the Ministry of Health confirmed that Windsor-Essex would remain in stage two of reopening as transmission of COVID-19 is monitored in the region and the province works with other levels of government to slow the spread of the virus.

Ontario has deployed the Emergency Medical Assistance Team (EMAT) to Windsor-Essex, in order to provide incident management support and coordination for the region’s health sector.

The province has also implemented a three-point plan to support the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit in reducing the spread of COVID-19 on farms and in the community. The plan includes:

  • Ongoing and expanded on-farm testing;
  • Access to employment benefits and supports for affected workers;
  • Public health guidance specific to the agri-food setting.