Tepid response to respiratory triple-threat By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CST Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022

Opinion

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This article was published 15/11/2022 (673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s an encouragement. Not an emphatic one, mind, and certainly nothing in the realm of a mandate, a directive or an instruction. But the province’s chief public health officer on Tuesday suggested Manitobans might consider wearing of masks in indoor public places as one of several “layers of protection” we might employ in the face of what’s shaping up to be a very challenging respiratory-disease season compounded by waning immunity to COVID-19.

As responses to the current surge in respiratory illnesses and related hospitalizations go, the one offered by Dr. Brent Roussin could fairly be described as tepid. And while it’s a disappointing statement from the person long considered the unflinching face of Manitoba’s pandemic response, it’s entirely in keeping with the Stefanson government’s apparent inclination to treat COVID-19 as a past consideration rather than an ongoing concern.

The problem is, however, that the currently evolving crisis and the need for measures to limit viral spread extends beyond the COVID-19 infections that government and the public no longer seem eager to discuss.

In Ontario on Monday, chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore “strongly recommended” masking in all indoor public places, as that province’s health system buckles under the weight of a “difficult and complex” autumn created by a trio of major viral threats: COVID-19, influenza and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus).

A day earlier, Premier Doug Ford urged Ontarians to “wear a mask every time possible,” after Toronto’s overwhelmed Hospital for Sick Children announced it was putting some surgical procedures on hold as it scrambles to preserve critical-care capacity while dealing with a sharp rise in patient volumes.

Health officials in Quebec also recommended mask usage in public places to protect that province’s “fragile” health system.

Meanwhile, Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, recommended the use of masks in indoor public places as a means of limiting the spread of respiratory viruses and helping hospitals cope with recently surging demand.

In Manitoba, where a near-unprecedented 201 patients visited the emergency room at Children’s Hospital on Sunday — prompting the ER’s medical director to declare “we’re so stretched right now we’re just not able to meet everyone’s wants and needs” — the approach inexplicably remains one of casual reminders and friendly advice.

In Manitoba, where a near-unprecedented 201 patients visited the emergency room at Children’s Hospital on Sunday… the approach inexplicably remains one of casual reminders and friendly advice.

Dr. Roussin, who for the better part of 18 months was a near-daily presence in Manitobans’ lives and a vocal advocate for mask use, vaccination and social distancing, has made increasingly infrequent public appearances since last February, when Premier Heather Stefanson announced it was “time to give (Manitobans) their lives back.”

Dr. Roussin offered his observations on Tuesday in a telephone interview granted to the Free Press in direct response to a list of questions submitted to the province. His no-changes message regarding public-health measures came on the same day the Stefanson government’s throne speech laid out an agenda focused on crime reduction, policing and augmenting provincial health services by contracting out to private providers.

That the pandemic received only passing mention in the throne speech is hardly surprising, given the current premier’s obvious desire to consider it a closed subject. But COVID-19 has combined with RSV and the old-fashioned flu to create a grave threat to some of Manitoba’s most vulnerable residents — this time around, it’s very young children, as opposed to the seniors who were victimized most by the first waves of the pandemic.

In that context, one might have hoped for something stronger from the province’s top doctor than “We’re certainly not looking at mandating (masks)” and “We’ve always said (masks are) certainly an option for people.”

Such an encouragement is less than encouraging.