Premier blasts anti-mask protesters
People disrupting contact tracing are ‘yahoos’ putting others at risk
Ontario Premier Doug Ford was unimpressed by members of a Niagara anti-mask group who suggested people use his phone number to spoof local public health contact tracing measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, calling them “yahoos” out of step with the rest of the province.
“Have you ever walked through the
ICUs, seeing someone struggling for their life on a ventilator, and having their loved ones outside and cannot even see their loved one?” said Ford about the social media commentary by the Hugs Over Masks group.
“Have you ever been to a longterm-care facility when people are struggling and the PSWs are out there working their backs off, putting their lives ahead of their own family and putting their community first, and you want to go out there act like a bunch of yahoos?
“That’s polite. I am being polite with yahoos. Guys, give your heads a shake. We’re all in this together.”
Ford made his comment when asked about Facebook posts by members of the antimask group advising people not to give their names and phone numbers to restaurants and
other businesses that temporarily collect that information for the public health department in the event a patron contracts the novel coronavirus.
The information, which is typically destroyed after two weeks, is used by the public health department in contact tracing to locate other people who might have been exposed to the virus so they can be tested and isolated.
Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, and Niagara acting medical officer of health Dr. Mustafa Hirji say contact tracing is a vital tool in locating potential COVID-19 cases and breaking the chain of transmission of the virus from one person to another.
On their Facebook group — which is posted on a social media platform that is constantly collecting data about its users — members of Hugs Over Masks claimed the collection of names and numbers is a violation of their privacy and rights.
Some members told others to provide false names and phone numbers to businesses so they cannot be contacted by public health. Among the phone numbers members suggested was the one for Ford’s office. Others suggested using Ford’s publicly known cellphone number.
“Good luck,” Ford said. “I will tell you one thing, 99 per cent of the population doesn’t believe in what you are doing.”
The group has held small protests in Niagara, including protesting the recently extended regionwide mask bylaw. Although it ostensibly bills itself as focused on individual rights, Hugs Over Masks promotes a variety of conspiracy theories including false claims about microchips in vaccines, the pandemic being a global plot, and that contact tracing is a scheme to hunt down Jews.
Hirji said people who provide fake contact information at restaurants are not just putting themselves at risk but those closest to them.
If they were exposed to the virus, and public health cannot alert them to get tested and isolate, they could spread COVID-19 to their families and immediate social circle. That scenario can quickly lead the COVID-19 being spread to others and generate a cluster of cases.
Williams said measures being used to limit the spread of the virus, including physical distancing, mask-wearing and hand hygiene, will not be permanent. But how long they remain in effect will entirely depend on the behaviour of Ontarians.
“We are looking for that day when you can go around and give hugs and not wear masks. But the longer we prolong this, the more we have to do it,” Williams said.
“Honour the responsibility and especially protect the vulnerable ones all around you.”