Ontario is in its sixth wave of COVID. And, Bruce Arthur writes, the province's chief medical health officer has disappeared:
Where is Dr. Kieran Moore? Ontario’s chief medical officer of health hasn’t been seen in public since St. Patrick’s Day, a week after his final regular pandemic briefing, four days before masks became optional, right around the time the wastewater signal started to really rise, and two-and-a-half weeks before COVID was sloshing around everywhere. An interview request for Moore to the Ministry of Health Monday was politely shuffled into oblivion. The doctor, publicly, is out.
The answer, of course, is that why would you trot out the province’s top public health official if you didn’t think there was a public health crisis, or even the prospect of one? Premier Doug Ford keeps using an imaginary number of 3,000 ICU beds, when ICU staff availability determines the real number, and Monday called this “a little spike” that the province can manage. Maybe, even without almost any meaningful public health interventions, it can.
The evidence speaks for itself:
Hospitalizations are up 30 per cent in a week, though the ICU is relatively steady. There were no COVID deaths reported Monday, which is terrific, but enough cases and the virus will find the vulnerable. This wave may be smaller than the previous Omicron wave due to more vaccination and more post-infection antibodies, but the prospect of quick reinfection may complicate that. As ever, the vulnerable will suffer most.
It’s a trade: the removal of a mild inconvenience before it’s necessary in exchange for the lives and health of some of society’s most vulnerable citizens. That’s all.
Dr. Moore has disappeared. And Christine Elliott, Ford's Minister of Health, won't be running in the next election. That's the way things go in Ontario.
If you're a lawyer who works for Donald Trump, you get disbarred. If you're a medical health officer who works for Doug Ford, you fade away.
Image: The Toronto Star
19 comments:
Owen, let me see if I have this right. Proof of vaccination requirements dropped and MOH disappears, and daily case count gone, big 'plan' for expansion of long requested Peel Health & Wellness Center, license plate fees eliminated a rebates sent out to taxpayers, 400 series highway fees eliminated, 'temporary' reduced gas taxes ….. the list goes on, one would almost think there is an upcoming provincial election coming. Oh wait, I think there is!
Interesting, isn't, Rural? I thought buying votes was a crime.
.. Mainstream & Social Media are seething with a truly bizarre spectrum of ‘belief’, ‘News’ or actual understanding re Covid at this point in history. Via Twitter I often see comments ranging from CMOH’s, to Federal & Provincial ‘Public Servants’, to individual ICU Chiefs, to pundits, hacks, even Premiers
The ‘partisan’ outrage or division can be stunning.. & the sheer ignorance defies belief at times
Currently I need to ensure I DO NOT blindside’ ie infect an amazing age range / vulnerability… that range ? Pregnant parents, some with several children - right up to late 80’s & anyone with those borders. Several experts I respect & trust suggest Covid has fooled us at every turn. At the same time, we can’t ‘shoot the messenger’ .. that’s pointless, whether we agree or disagree
I’ll follow my GP’s recent advice to wait for the 4th vaccine, coming soon and he’ll be doing the same, prior. I mask in retail environments currently.. in part out of respect for those working in retail.. in part as I have zero knowledge of the ‘viral load’ present.. what air exchange (ventilation, filtration, circulation) exists .. whether LCBO, grocery store etc etc.
It seems to me that it's best to remain cautious, sal -- mainly because the virus hasn't gone away.
What I'd like to know is why, if precautions are to be lifted, our provinces haven't made available second boosters that the CDC contends are necessary to bolster vaccine immunity.
I'm not surprised Dr Moore is lying low, in his shoes I'd do the same. The decision to abandon all public health measures and rely solely on vaccination is a political one.
Public health experts can see the disaster that awaits. Since abandoning all protections, the UK is in the middle of its second worst wave, Denmark's hospitalization and death rates surged predictably and South Korea's now got millions infected and crematoriums can’t handle the dead. Nikiforuk lays out the folly here:
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2022/04/04/Great-Pandemic-Denial/
Conservative politicians are addicted to short-term gain for long-term pain, so here we are again. Mask up and avoid indoor crowds folks, we're on our own.
Cap
Good question, Mound. I suspect that some premiers believe that, if they close their eyes, the virus will go away.
Thanks for the link, Cap. Nikiforuk's very good on this issue.
Moore was our Medical Officer of Health and did a great job in the arrival of Covid-19. Is he being held captive in a cellar oubliette at Queen's Park?
Good question jrk. Apparently, someone is guarding the door.
so the medical officer disappeared.. perhaps its time the MSM started looking for him. He's got to be some where.
Its like politicians believe if they don't talk about it, it won't happen or rather it isn't happening. They also sense some of their base is tired of the mandates and protocols so they're going to act like nothing is wrong. sort of reminds me of a dysfunctional family. No one wants to talk about the elephant in the room so they wait until the abuser kills some one and then well it will be some one else's fault. In this case they may be keeping the chief medical officer under wraps so they can blame him later for not doing his job when covid cases spike and a thousand die in a week. I can hear it now, "if he'd been doing his job....."
I'm getting my second booster as soon as its available and although many protocols have been lifted in B.C. I'm continuing as if we still have a pandemic, mask, hand washing and sanitizer, no crowded places, only going to do the grocery shopping, etc.
Ford is most likely scared of renewed protestors with trucks and as long as they can hide the chief medical officer, all will be well until it isn't.
Just over at an Alberta blog and they just fired theirs.
I think this is some sort of right wing idiot plan.
The truckers scared lots of our politicians, e.a.f. And, yes, it is an idiot plan.
Here in BC , Bonnie Henry just caved in, possibly due to pressure from other provinces.
In my circles is is not a popular decision most preferring to keep the vaccination cards and social distancing in restaurants.
The market rules!!
TB
Precisely, TB. Money -- not public health -- is our most important priority.
Nikiforuk has been my go to for the Canadian perspective on the pandemic and Laurie Garrett in the US- his analysis is usually spot on. If nothing else, the trucker freedom convoy showed that it could bring the economy to a screeching halt and cost the pandemic profiteers big bucks. I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any means but the timing of removing restrictions (I hate that word, it should always have been safety precautions/personal protective equipment) started to roll out just after the big border blockades. Who knows what lurks ahead with this never ending pandemic, vaccine resistance, super variants, we just don't know, but all the cards are lining up for a disaster. The appalling leadership vacuum is leaving us vulnerable, and speaking of vulnerable, it seems like we're saying a collective f-you to anyone immune compromised. BC Waterboy
That's true, waterboy. We have purposely turned our backs on the immune-compromised.
I spoke too soon. Now BC and Ontario have rolled out plans for a second booster. I'm sure they really had no choice.
'
This virus is not going to disappear, Mound. We will need to be cautious for a long time.
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