Toronto Public Health Officials and housing advocates are proposing to bring back eviction bans in Canada. They are supported by a study published on April 15 that suggests it stops the spread of COVID-19.
Eviction bans protect entire communities by allowing those who have lost their homes to keep them. Homeowners that were evicted were found to have a 1.5x – 2-5x higher risk than those who were allowed to stay. This research comes from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Lifting the bans is detrimental to essential workers as a large majority of them are racialized and vulnerable. Essential workers often live in COVID hotspots and live paycheque to paycheque. Dr. Andrew Boozary, at University Health Network in Toronto, says “We’re failing on the human right to housing and on public health,”.
Eviction bans acted as a strong safety measure for vulnerable people lessening their worries and burdens. As COVID cases continue to rise Health Officials and Housing Advocates fight to bring back the eviction ban. Dr. Boozary claims without homes for everyone “we will only see a degradation in public health going forward”.
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