Ontario losing its way in the second wave

Something funny happened at a news conference this week, one of many put on by the Ford government as COVID-19 continues to get worse.

Ontario’s top public health official, Dr. David Williams, chief medical officer, was asked if he has guidance for people around Thanksgiving family gatherings. To paraphrase, he said not much, but he is waiting for more recommendations from the table of experts that advises him and the government.

Then he added this: “We have to emphasize to cook the turkey well, because we do have other outbreaks at this time, usually salmonella. And so we ask people to be careful and manage their proper procedures of handling, cooking and preparation and serving.”

That’s right, asked about pandemic family safety on during one of our most important holidays, he offered a food safety tip instead. Then he reminded everyone to wear their seatbelts. (He didn’t really say that last part, but you get the idea.)

No doubt Ontario’s top doc was trying to be helpful, but he ended up looking out of step. And while he and other provincial officials probably don’t see it this way, Williams’ misstep is illustrative of the Ontario government’s overall ability to deal with the second wave effectively, which they are not doing at this point.

Daily new infections, which admittedly are not the be all and end all pandemic metric, are increasing dramatically. New projections suggest if the current trajectory continues we will be looking at 1,000 new cases every day within a month or so. Until this week, younger people were driving the second wave. Now the virus is growing in multiple demographics. And school outbreaks, among staff and students, are growing as well.

It is against this backdrop that Williams could offer no new guidance, but did offer a tried and true cooking tip. That’s it? Quebec, dealing with an equally serious second wave, bluntly told people to cancel family gatherings. Health leaders in British Columbia and Alberta have said much the same thing. Here in Ontario, we’re talking turkey.

Count us among the many Ontarians who have given Ford and his government, and public health officials, overall good marks for their management of this unprecedented public health crisis. But that’s changing, and for some solid reasons.

Way back in July, when we seemed to be flattening the curve, numerous epidemiologists and other health experts were already warning of a second wave that could be worse than the first. Their stark warning: We must prepare before it gets here.

So did we? Given that we had ample warning, did we recruit staff and secure facilities for expanded testing capacity? Did we ensure expanded lab capacity so tests could be turned around in reasonable time? Did we use some of the billions of dollars given to Ontario by Ottawa to reinforce safety, staffing and procedures in long-term-care facilities? Did we put in place adequate protections in schools to minimize school outbreaks?

The answer, as we know painfully well, is no. Adults and children are lining up for hours to get tested. Test results are taking days, even a week. Lab capacity is so stretched that provincial health authorities have instructed some regions to reduce testing to ease the lab logjam. The government has only nibbled around the edges of fixing long-term care. Now new cases and outbreaks are being reported.

It’s as if we were surprised by the second wave, even though it has been predicted hundreds of times. Now, here we are with the government seemingly unwilling to roll back reopening, and the province’s top health authority offering food safety tips. Not a good look.