masking

Thursday October 29, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 29, 2020

Hey politicians, if you’re not going to walk the walk, just shut up

Former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, Health Minister Patty Hajdu and assistant to Ontario’s education minister Sam Oosterhoff have at least one thing in common. And it is not their politics.

All three have been observed doing things in clear contravention of pandemic public safety guidelines. Scheer flew his family across the country so his kids could attend the preferred school when such travel was prohibited for regular citizens. Hajdu was photographed at Pearson International by an Alberta government supporter as she laughed and gestured — sans mask. And Niagara MPP Oosterhoff posed maskless and in close confines with dozens of relatives attending a celebration at a banquet facility.

May 15, 2019

Of thee three, Oosterhoff’s sin seems most brazen, because having posed with his family members for the photo, he or someone else at the gathering then posted it on social media. Doing so caused a firestorm and the post was deleted, but the damage was done by then. 

It turns out the family was asked by the facility’s management to adhere to masking and distancing rules, but they did not comply. Since there’s no way that many people could be from the same social bubble, it’s a particularly egregious and arrogant sin.

By contrast, the photo of Hajdu showed her sitting alone smiling and unmasked. She later said she was eating and therefore allowed to be maskless, but even if that is true, she should have known better. Ministers, in particular the federal minister of health, should hold themselves to a higher standard.

The optics in Oosterhoff’s case are equally bad. The legislative assistant to Education Minister Steven Lecce had to have known ignoring his own government’s public health rules was foolish and high risk. And while Hajdu was exposed by a conservative operative, Oosterhoff basically blew the whistle on himself.

It’s also worth noting that this isn’t his first folly. This is the same MPP who, speaking at a rally, said “We pledge to make abortion unthinkable.” And in the spring of last year, his office staff called the police to report seniors who were holding a “read in” to protest library cuts. How many strikes does Oosterhoff get?

Apparently, according to Premier Doug Ford, lots. For the third day in a row, Ford has defended the MPP, promising “Sam will do better.”

April 28, 2020

The perceived double standard is riling Ontarians of all political stripes. When regular folk convene backyard parties or gather in parks or on beaches, they are called “yahoos” by the premier. He has urged law enforcement authorities to come down hard on the “knuckleheads,” but when it comes to his own MPP blatantly disregarding public safety, Ford is all warm and cuddly. 

The hypocrisy rankles, especially at a time when Ontarians are feeling at the end of their rope about the pandemic and resulting restrictions on their personal freedoms. It’s hard enough to do the right thing for the right reasons, but when authority figures break the very same rules, even the most altruistic citizen can be forgiven for chafing at the bit. 

Politicians at all levels should cut this out, and post it to their office bulletin boards, or the socially distant electronic equivalent. We are in the second wave, and it is worse at this point than the first wave. We don’t know where we will be next month or even next year. We are being told to make those sacrifices in the name of keeping ourselves and others healthy. And the vast majority of us are doing that. 

But do not, under any circumstances, tell us to undergo these hardships and make these sacrifices and avoid them yourselves.

You can talk the talk, but if you’re not going to walk and walk, just shut up. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Wednesday October 28, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 28, 2020

Are politics trumping public health in Halton?

Are elected leaders in Halton Region at odds with regional public health officials over the best way to combat the alarming spread of COVID-19?

October 14, 2020

That is certainly one interpretation of events of last week and early this week that culminated with the Ford government’s decision Monday not to roll back reopening to a modified Stage 2 in Halton.

We are not arguing that decision was right or wrong. We are not experts. But until this week, those experts were sounding the alarm over the spread of the virus. And the province said clearly that Halton was among the regions where the spread of COVID-19 was considered serious enough to warrant rolling back reopening. 

Then the mayors of Burlington and Milton, Marianne Meed Ward and Gordon Krantz, Regional Chair Gary Carr and MPPs Jane McKenna and Parm Gill wrote a letter to Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams, in which they publicly disagreed with their own medical officer of health. They wrote: “Even with our numbers continuing to decline, we understand that Halton’s medical officer of health is pushing to move Halton Region back to Phase 2 … in line with Peel, Toronto, York and Ottawa.” A similar letter was written to Premier Doug Ford.

The politicians made a compelling case for not rolling the region back, but instead adopting a more targeted approach. And the province listened. Halton will not be rolling back, at least not yet.

No doubt many businesspeople and citizens are pleased. But this raises some troubling questions. 

June 3, 2020

How is it that these politicians know more than their top public health expert? What does that say about the relationship between them? Why did the politicians go over the head of public health officials to the premier’s office? Do Halton’s top elected officials not have confidence in their senior public health officer? Why are two members of Doug Ford’s own caucus going against the advice of regional health officials?

And most importantly, what are Halton citizens, who look to their elected leaders and public health officials for leadership, to make of all this?

Asked about the situation by The Spectator’s Joanna Frketich at a media briefing, Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger sounded critical of the Halton politicians. He stressed that he takes his guidance from public health, and would not be moved by other considerations. You can agree or disagree with that (we agree), but at least it’s clear. In Halton Region, that is less so, and that’s not good.

The Halton leaders were clear about one thing: They want the province to provide clear, consistent metrics on how and why decisions are made about reopening and rollbacks. That’s reasonable, and they are not the first to call for more transparency.

Addressing the situation, Ford said he was the one who recommended the politicians write a letter. Then he spoke about how input from local political leaders is important. Then he said such letters are not considered in the eventual decision. Thanks for the clarity.

Ford is said to take his guidance from a table of health experts. But the public doesn’t even know who sits at that table, never mind what specific measures they consider before making recommendations to the premier. 

As the pandemic drags on, situations like this one are bound to become more common, causing confusion and uncertainty. The government must provide a new level of clarity and transparency about data, priorities and decision-making. When citizens see and understand the evidence behind pandemic decisions, they are more likely to comply. The government should keep in mind the reverse is also true. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Thursday October 1, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 1, 2020

Ontario’s 2nd wave of COVID-19 forecast to peak in October

Fresh projections suggest that Ontario’s second wave of COVID-19 will peak in mid- to late October and will likely send enough patients to intensive care that hospitals will need to scale back non-emergency surgeries.

September 22, 2020

The forecasts come from the COVID-19 Modelling Collaborative, a joint effort of scientists and physicians from the University of Toronto, University Health Network and Sunnybrook Hospital. 

Based on how quickly Ontario’s infection rate has been rising in recent weeks, the model projects the province is on track to exceed 1,000 new cases per day by the middle of October, unless stricter public health measures slow the accelerating spread.

The average number of new cases reported daily in Ontario is currently running four times higher than what it was at the end of August. Premier Doug Ford’s government has since shrunk limits on the size of private gatherings, reduced opening hours for bars and ordered strip clubs to close.

On Monday, Ontario reported an additional 700 cases of COVID-19, the most on a single day since the outbreak began in late January. The figure surpasses the previous high of 640 from April 24.

May 29, 2020

On Sunday, Ontario’s Ministry of Health reported 112 patients in hospital with a confirmed case of COVID-19, nearly triple the number of two weeks ago. The research team says the impact of the second wave on Ontario’s hospitals will depend on the demographics of who gets infected in the coming weeks. 

The team of researchers has run four scenarios for how Ontario’s second wave could play out from here.

The best-case scenario would mimic Ontario’s first wave in March and April, when case numbers increased rapidly but were then reined in by a lockdown. 

Two moderate scenarios would resemble how a second wave hit jurisdictions comparable to Ontario: the Australian state of Victoria (home to Melbourne, a city of five million), and the U.S. state of Michigan. 

None of those three scenarios shows COVID-19 patients filling Ontario’s hospital wards or ICUs beyond their capacity. That happens only in the modellers’ worst-case scenario: a second wave as severe as the first wave that hit Italy when the pandemic began.

However, in all but the best-case scenario, the researchers foresee ICU demand that exceeds the capacity required for patients undergoing scheduled surgeries. (CBC)