A penny for your pandemic efforts? Ottawa approved $120K for coins for health staff – National | 24CA News

The federal company charged with spearheading Canada’s response to COVID-19 authorized a $120,000 initiative to buy specifically designed cash for its staff as an “everlasting expression of gratitude” for his or her work throughout the pandemic.

The cash have been to be distributed to all staff of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) as a token of thanks for his or her work on the company during the last three years, in line with paperwork obtained by Global News via access-to-information legislation.

The gesture was given an approximate price ticket of as much as $120,000 after an estimate for the cash was obtained by PHAC. This value included a brass nickel-plated coin and a blue velvet presentation field for every coin at a value of $16 per worker.

“Since 2020, PHAC employees have made exceptional contributions to pandemic relief efforts, performing their duties efficiently and effectively under challenging circumstances, while upholding the core values of Canada’s public service,” says a briefing doc ready for PHAC’s president, Harpreet S. Kochhar, in June 2022.

The “COVID coin” initiative and its price ticket have been authorized by Kochhar on June 6, 2022.

The deliberate design of the coin confirmed English on one facet and French on the opposite, with what the company termed a “universally-recognized COVID-19 symbol” — the spiked ball picture of the SARS-CoV-2 virus because it seems microscopically.

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At the time the briefing doc was ready, it was anticipated the COVID cash can be introduced at a particular October 2022 city corridor for PHAC staff and distributed shortly thereafter.

The cash have been to be delivered to staff “as an everlasting expression of gratitude for their contributions under unprecedented circumstances.”

Since the start of the pandemic in Canada, the company’s measurement has virtually doubled to 4,368 full-time equivalents by the top of 2021-22 from 2,296 full-time worker equivalents in 2019-20, in line with PHAC’s most just lately accessible departmental outcomes report.

The improve in staffing was primarily attributable to momentary and everlasting new staffing wanted to assist the company’s work because it carried out quite a few initiatives in assist of COVID-19 public well being measures, in line with the report.

It added that the company anticipated the variety of its full-time equal staff would steadily return to close pre-pandemic ranges beginning in 2023-24 as COVID-19 funding decreased over time.

Work of PHAC staff throughout the pandemic has included drafting new laws, insurance policies, directives and tips; deploying emergency response sources throughout the nation; contact tracing; advancing analysis on COVID-19; creating new applied sciences for testing and monitoring potential instances; issuing frequent and well timed communication; supporting floor and air management measures and sustaining different, common public well being companies to Canadians, the briefing paperwork state.

PHAC didn’t reply to Global News’ request for remark in time for publication.

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