My friend is a PSW in a poorly regulated care facility entering outbreak status. She is afraid for her life, and wants a way to legally quit and apply for EI.

Hello. Not sure if this is the place to ask for advice on such a predicament, but here goes. It felt like the best fit.

I'm posting on behalf of my friend, as she isn't very savvy with things like reddit.

She is currently a PSW and has been for many years at this same facility. In the past couple days, the place has gone into lockdown as some residents and staff have tested positive and are showing symptoms of the COVID virus.

She is at a point where she is panicked and fearing for her life. She is vaccinated, but also has lung problems (has for a long time, since before the pandemic). Vaccination isn't 100% immunity. That is another discussion. The main point is she feels like she never signed on to work in this kind of situation years and years ago, and I feel she has every right to protect her health.

She states that the facility doesn't do the greatest job of regulating safety and PPE procedures. They apparently let visitors on the property with the residents, gathering with no masks. They also refuse to supply the staff with N95 masks. They do have other PPE (gown, face shield, etc), but it seems as if they cut financial corners. Now I don't know if this is true... but I am confident she wouldn't just be falsifying this information.

If the above is true, it's plain to see this is not a safe place to be at all.

She wants to know if there is any way she can quit this job and still be eligible for EI / CERB. As it stands these things are voided if you quit a job through your own choosing. So she is stuck with this dilemma of not wanting to risk her life anymore, but also not wanting to be homeless. She doesn't feel it's worth it to work there anymore.

Is there some legal stipulation related to human rights on this kind of thing? I mean I know one has the ability to refuse unsafe work, does that stand in this situation? What else might I or her be ignorant to when it comes to something like this? Can she request time off directly from her work? Can they fire her for refusing work?

She called me today extremely upset, just completely at a loss of what to do.

What can she do? Who should she call? Are there any resources related to something like this?

TL;DR - PSW's place of work suddenly in COVID outbreak. Is there a legal way she can quit/take time off from this job, and continue to earn income either through EI or PTO? She is scared for the safety of her life.