MONTREAL -- With the COVID-19 vaccination campaign underway, we are seeing some glimmering signs of hope in this war against the virus although we are still a long way from celebrating victory.
For those who still do not believe we are at war, think again: the curfews, the restrictions, the field hospitals which popped up overnight, the border closures and worst of all the mass casualties, over 20,000 in Canada, more than half in Quebec alone. That's about as many lives which were extinguished when that orange fireball burst over Nagasaki in August 1945.
The enemy creeps into our homes using our loved ones as cover, attacks our most vulnerable without mercy, uses our children crowded in schools as unsuspecting allies as well as those who do their best trying to provide for their families.
We needed a Winston Churchill, an FDR to make us understand that each one of us has a role in defeating the enemy.
A real leader we could trust who would tell us that our sacrifices are not in vain, to stand united and strong.
Instead, we got mediocrities as leaders such as the fool on the hill who totally bungled our vaccine program and put 37 countries ahead of us in vaccination rates.
And here in Quebec, we have Mr. Legault, conveniently deflecting his responsibilities by talking about the language issue in the middle of this calamity.
They say truth is the first casualty of war.
Time and again, we were not told the truth, either through baseless unscientific statements, by withholding critical information and not allowing the media to witness the ravages in COVID-19 wards and CHSLDs.
Despite warnings from health experts, we were told by public health officials that ventilation in schools and CHSLDs was adequate, that air purifiers in schools were dangerous, and that transmission did not come from schools.
For almost a year, we were told that it is impossible for younger elementary schoolchildren to wear masks and suddenly, masks became mandatory for all elementary school children in the classroom and guess what?
Kids seem to be handling them quite well.
Any brilliant military tactician such as US Generals Patton or MacArthur would tell you that the best way to vanquish an enemy is through using overwhelming power and rapid dominance.
The war on COVID-19 is no different and requires a similar strategy of extreme short-term measures.
This has been proven successful in New South Wales (Australia) and New Zealand both of which brought cases down to zero and the economy and life back to normal in a few short months.
In Quebec, we have Horacio Arruda leading the public health offensive against COVID-19 and advising his political bosses.
Unlike Patton's lightning offensives, the Quebec strategy has basically been a war of attrition, similar to WWI trench warfare, keeping a body count of our own losses within a certain range (which they call plateau) which is politically acceptable, by adjusting the level of restrictions here and there.
The goal of this strategy was never to crush the enemy but simply to avoid being overrun.
This failed strategy has resulted in a long, unending struggle with high case counts, sickness and deaths, severe economic hardship and increasing fears that emerging new variants may spin things out of control once again.
Worse, the most affected have been the elderly and vulnerable.
Had most of the deaths occurred in children instead, our society would have found it so repugnant that such a strategy would never have been remotely contemplated. It brought out a dark side of our society, the spectre of systemic ageism.
We will have to deal with this for a long time when this is all over.
One of the biggest failures public health failures has been the handling of the schools, where infection rates continue to be the highest of all age groups.
After multiple denials, only recently did government health officials finally admit that schools were a significant contributor to the pandemic.
Quebec elementary schools continue to have the highest rates of outbreaks of all sectors.
This should come as no surprise as elementary schoolchildren under grade 5 have not been wearing masks in poorly ventilated and overcrowded classrooms until this week. Shockingly, children are still not wearing masks during gym classes when it has been scientifically proven that physical exercise and heavy breathing in indoor spaces present the highest risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Considering that the majority of all variant outbreaks in Montreal up to March 9 occurred in schools , the mask exemption in gym can be qualified as extremely alarming and totally irresponsible. Spreading variants from schools into the community at this time of fragile recovery can jeopardize the success of the vaccination program.
In a news conference last week, a reporter addressed this highly critical issue to Harruda who brushed it off with a long, rambling non-answer.
As a side note, current Quebec school conditions fail every single criterion enumerated in the latest CDC guidelines including universal masking, social distancing, ventilation, classroom size, online learning option and screening. But the Quebec government and its public health advisors act as if they have never heard of the CDC or Health Canada.
They instead turn for advice to their more compliant and friendly INSPQ.
Where did we go wrong?
Maybe we put too much trust in our Quebec leaders to make the right choices for us and the public health establishment appears to be nothing more than their humble servant.
With any luck, we will be spared seeing commemorative stamps in honour of our politicians for their actions during the war on COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic was also the first major challenge to Quebec Public Health in modern history and it dishonoured itself by not assuming its responsibility to the people, by not following evidence-based infection control strategies, by its lack of transparency and by not standing up against their political bosses' flawed approaches. This will not be remembered as their finest hour.
The battle is far from over, but the true valour belongs to all those who sacrificed their own safety and the safety of their families, including doctors, nurses, hospital workers, teachers and other frontline workers.
Never in Quebec have so many owed so much to so few.
Michael Levy, MPH (Masters' in Environmental Health)
- Environmental Health Specialist and Epidemiologist
