The many Canadian working in Detroit's health care system [and the few Michiganders working in Windsor] is creating controversy in Windsor and Canada as seen in the Windsor Star Op-ed.

The two-way gist of this piece is a call for those Canadian medical personal to stay in Windsor so as not to become carriers from the now hot spot of Detroit [it is noted that the City of Detroit alone has more cases than Ontario at this point and of Windsor CoV cases "almost one-third of the confirmed cases here involve health care workers, and more than half travel to the U.S."]. The second point made is that they are needed in Windsor for its increasing case load.

But this begs a "fair weather friends" question. If workers flee, or are forbidden to cross and work, will any hospital be inclined to hire Canadians in the future if this shows unreliability now when they are most needed?

Also mentioned as a supporting argument is that any Canadians entering Canada are required to be quarantined for 14 Days. I know. I have Windsor friends who returned from Indonesia and are stuck in Vancouver.

The solution being offered is to set up housing on both sides.

It’s a unique and tricky dilemma. The United States is Canada’s best and longest ally and its neighbour. And here on the border, not only our economies but our people are inextricably linked. We benefit immensely from our proximity to Detroit. We can not leave them when they need us most.

But we must protect our community. We need to reduce the number of people who cross daily. Are they all critical? Can part-time work be consolidated into full-time?

Windsor Regional Hospital will no longer have staff who work both here and in Michigan.

It also offers apartments for staff from outside this area. Four staff from Michigan are using them. They’ve temporarily moved to Windsor.

Windsor is even offering hotel rooms for hospital staff here who are concerned about infecting their families. More than 30 staff are using the rooms.
Yet another unforeseen consequence of this pandemic that now threatens to damage our relations with our international metropolis partners.