B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry looks on during a press conference in Victoria on April 23, 2020.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
It wasn’t long ago that our provincial public health officers were being lionized for their calm, reassuring efforts to guide us through the COVID-19 pandemic.
One could imagine a statue being erected of Dr. Bonnie Henry. B.C.’s provincial health officer has received global fame for her kind, compassionate approach to dealing with the virus, one that helped calm people’s fears while minimizing the spread of the virus.
Plaudits were also being heaped on many of her counterparts. They were hailed as our new heroes, people whose wisdom we clung to in uncertain and frightful times.
But that was then, and this is now, as the saying goes. Today, it seems, these same diligent and tireless professionals are fair game for criticism from amateur virologists and epidemiologists everywhere.
COVID-19 news: Updates and essential resources about the pandemic
When do schools reopen? Do I have to wear a mask indoors? A guide to COVID-19 rules across Canada
Dr. Henry was attacked this week by teachers for her participation in a public health ad set in a classroom with a handful of students. The BC Teachers’ Federation called the ad misleading, and accused the public health officer of creating a false impression of what the situation will actually be like in most public classrooms this fall. Meantime, as cases have begun to rise again in B.C., Dr. Henry has been criticized for not making mask-wearing mandatory in all public spaces. Her soft-sell approach to compliance seems to now be grating on people.
Alberta’s Dr. Deena Hinshaw has faced similar attacks. When she said masks would not be mandatory in classrooms, even when students might not always be two metres apart, some education professionals were furious, suggesting it was a change in policy (even though it wasn’t). As with her counterparts elsewhere, other decisions she has made are now being routinely questioned.
In Ontario, meantime, the head of the nurses association has called for the immediate removal of Dr. David Williams as the province’s chief medical officer of health, saying he’s a horrible communicator who was slow to respond to the pandemic. As the province prepares for a possible second wave of COVID-19 this fall, his critics say it’s time for a fresh voice.
It was only natural, I suppose, that the love affair with these folks would eventually dim. Early on, as the realization of what we were facing dawned on us, they were the people we trusted to be our guiding light, to steer us away from danger, to keep us alive. We weren’t in a position to question their judgment.
But now, apparently, we are.
Much of the second-guessing has centred around the imminent return to school. There is understandably much angst, both among parents and teachers. Many of the provincial plans, endorsed by provincial health officers, are being called unsafe and unrealistic.
Again, I get the anxiety. But what is the alternative? Keeping kids home, depriving them of much-needed social interactions and likely ensuring that at least one parent will have to stay home with them – at least among those families that have that luxury. Most don’t.
The fact is, there is evidence to suggest that protecting people’s health and protecting the economy is not an either-or, mutually exclusive proposition. A new study out of the University of Oxford that compared COVID-19 death rates with current GDP data found that a majority of countries (among the 38 included) that protected their citizens from the worst of the pandemic generally safeguarded their economies too.
And there is definitely a link between getting kids back to school, and allowing the economy to function more normally. Other countries are already showing it can be done.
It will not be perfect. Dr. Bonnie Henry and others have already said this. There will be outbreaks and when there are, schools will have to act quickly to contain them. But you don’t shut down an entire system because you fear some cases might pop up. The social and economic fallout from that decision would be extreme.
I understand that our provincial health officers aren’t immune from criticism. Nor are they perfect. They are trying to figure this thing out as they go along. There is no mistake-free playbook they can follow.
But at the end of the day, it’s up to all of us to follow protocols that allow us to be safe. It’s not Dr. Henry’s responsibility to keep each and every one of us healthy – it’s ours. It’s up to parents and teachers to behave responsibly outside of the classroom. And if they don’t, well, they are the ones who are endangering lives.
And that’s on them. Not Dr. Henry and others doing the same thankless job.
Sign up for the Coronavirus Update newsletter to read the day’s essential coronavirus news, features and explainers written by Globe reporters and editors.