Occupational pressures of frontline workers enforcing COVID-19 pandemic measures in Ontario and Quebec, Canada.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, low-wage public-facing frontline workers (FLWs), such as grocery store clerks, were required to monitor retail customers and enforce COVID-19 protocols.

Objective: This analysis aimed to examine FLWs experiences of enforcing COVID-19 pandemic measures.

Methods: Between September 2020 and March 2021, in Ontario and Quebec (Canada), we conducted in-depth interviews about customer-related work and health risks with FLWs who interacted with the public (n = 40) and their supervisors (n = 16).

Managing the unknown or the art of preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in workplaces in a context of evolving science, precarious employment, and communication barriers. A qualitative situational analysis in Quebec and Ontario.

Introduction: The issue of communications in the public space, and in particular, in the workplace, became critical in the early stages of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and was exacerbated by the stress of the drastic transformation of the organization of work, the speed with which new information was being made available, and the constant fear of being infected or developing a more severe or even fatal form of the disease. Although effective communication is the key to fighting a pandemic, some business sectors were more vulnerable and affected than others, and the individuals in particular socio-demographic and economic categories were proportionately more affected by the number of infections and hospitalizations, and by the number of deaths. Therefore, the aim of this article is to present data related to issues faced by essential workers interacting with the public and their employers to mitigate the contagion of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) at work.

Perceptions of COVID-19 related risks by platform-based couriers: An analysis of user comment threads on Reddit.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for app-based platform-based couriers, creating job opportunities for individuals who have lost income because of COVID-19. Through various stages of lockdown, courier workers (e.g.

"We need to talk to each other": Crossing traditional boundaries between public health and occupational health to address COVID-19.

Introduction: This study examined how public health (PH) and occupational health (OH) sectors worked together and separately, in four different Canadian provinces to address COVID-19 as it affected at-risk workers. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 OH and PH experts between June to December 2021. Responses about how PH and OH worked across disciplines to protect workers were analyzed.

Perceived COVID-19 health and job risks faced by digital platform drivers and measures in place to protect them: A qualitative study.

Introduction: As they deliver food, packages, and people across cities, digital platform drivers (gig workers) are in a key position to become infected with COVID-19 and transmit it to many others. The aim of this study is to identify perceived COVID-19 exposure and job risks faced by workers and document the measures in place to protect their health, and how workers responded to these measures.

Methods: In 2020-2021, in-depth interviews were conducted in Ontario, Canada, with 33 digital platform drivers and managers across nine platforms that delivered food, packages, or people.

Understanding the blended impacts of COVID-19 and systemic inequalities on sub-Saharan African immigrants in Canada.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a grave health threat and has serious socio-economic implications for all. However, crises are not experienced equally; the pandemic has disproportionately affected immigrants in several countries, including Canada and the United States. The effects of COVID-19 have exposed the realities of societal and structural inequities, worsened the socio-economic status of many immigrants, and placed them at higher risks of poor health outcomes.