Pandemic deaths and political silence
Most elected officials have not acknowledged the deepening grief
It is a loss of life Niagara has not seen since the guns in Europe fell silent in 1945. Over the last week, on average, a Niagara resident with COVID-19 has died every 2.5 hours.
Since last Friday, at least 61 Niagara residents infected with the novel coronavirus have died for a cumulative total of at least 307 people. The grim total is more than the 215 St. Catharines residents killed during Second World War and than 137 men killed during the construction of the first Welland Canal, both honoured by local memorials.
Yet as Niagara’s pandemic-related deaths have increased to be among the worst in Ontario — this week was Niagara’s deadliest of the pandemic — most of the region’s elected officials, including the mayors, have said little about COVID-19’S grim cost.
Of Niagara’s 13 municipal governments, including Niagara Region, only three publicly acknowledged the historic loss of life. On Jan. 22, Niagara-onlake’s Lord Mayor Betty Disero issued a statement of condolence and flew the town’s flags at half staff. On Thursday, Welland Mayor Frank Campion followed suit, as did Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton on Friday.
In a Friday interview, regional chair Jim Bradley said while Niagara politicians have not said much publicly about the rapidly increasing rate of COVID-19 related deaths, they do privately acknowledge it.
“I have seen some of the pictures (The Standard) has published of the people who have died,” Bradley said. “I know some of those people. The number of people who have died is tragic and the number is very high. These are people who were, in many cases, elderly and as result, many in the community knew them.
“These are not statistics. They were people who have friends and family who are mourning them.”
While Bradley said local leaders should do a better job of acknowledging the growing community grief, neither he nor the regional council has issued formal statements of condolence to the community. At most city halls, including St. Catharines, flags flew at full staff Friday.
The lack of public acknowledgement of pandemic deaths extends to the highest levels of the provincial government. Ontario’s health minister Christine Elliot takes to Twitter daily to post the numbers of new COVID-19 cases, specifically mentioning GTA cases, and the number of vaccine doses administered. She never mentions COVID-19 deaths — a task that has fallen to journalists and doctors who reply to Elliott’s tweets.
Niagara’s MPS and MPPS have also been largely reticent to talk about local pandemic deaths publicly.
COVID-19 related deaths in Niagara began to steadily accelerate at the end of October after community spread of the virus had dramatically increased in the previous month.
Between Oct. 28 and Dec. 26, at least 32 Niagara residents with the virus died — nearly half of all deaths in the preceding eight months. Then, as community spread gave way to more long-term-care and retirement home COVID-19 outbreaks, the death rate skyrocketed. Between Boxing Day and Friday, at least 201 Niagara residents died. Sixty-one of those happened since Jan. 22.
Niagara’s medical officer of health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji, said the death rate should start to slow down as public health department staff have administered the first of two Pfizer vaccine doses to residents of local long-term-care homes. He said the second doses of the vaccine will start to be administered starting Wednesday.
However, he said deaths are always a lagging metric that tend to rise two to four weeks after the infection rate starts to rise. Likewise, they tend to fall two to four weeks after cases start to decline.
Niagara’s overall infection rate has started to fall, after rising dramatically through November, December and most of January. Hirji said Niagara’s infection rate appears to have peaked around Jan. 8 and could continue to decline over the next several weeks if residents continue to adhere to safety protocols and regulations.
Niagara’s pandemic politics has involved some local leaders pushing against public health
measures, offering up ineffective advice — like drinking orange juice — to combat COVID-19 and pushing misinformation.
However, many elected officials do regularly talk about the pandemic. Regional councillors were nearly unified in the nowabandoned “flatten the curve” campaign in the first wave of the pandemic. Others, like St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik, regularly post updates on social media and during city council meetings, discuss the infection rate and the need for the public to remain diligent to fight the virus.
But the death toll is seldom, if ever, mentioned.
After last weekend’s loss of 22 people — the deadliest week of the pandemic in Niagara to date — no official statements were made by Niagara municipalities until Campion’s Thursday announcement.
Bradley said he believes most Niagara elected officials are compassionate people who are not ignoring the loss despite their public silence.
“Some politicians may be hesitant to discuss it publicly because there is a worry that they will be accused of using that loss for political gain,” said Bradley, who expects regional council will acknowledge the death toll publicly “going forward.”