We’ve done well but more could be done to fight COVID-19

I certainly want to commend and thank Premier Dwight Ball, Health Minister Dr. John Haggie and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald and all the folks working behind the scenes for their service and all the things they have done right.

Having said that, I feel that they are making several key mistakes that could result in needless suffering and death and could significantly slow the recovery of the province.

If there are simple things that will hasten our return to a more normal life they should be done.

The preponderance of scientific literature indicates that even simple homemade cloth face masks impart some small level of protection to the wearer and, more importantly, provide significantly more protection to others should the wearer be infected.

It is human nature not to want to wear a mask.

After 35 years of safety management, I can tell you people do not like to wear personal protective equipment, and it’s a struggle to make it the norm.

Consequently, the government should make the wearing of a face mask mandatory in addition to physical distancing in public buildings like supermarkets and stores.

Look at the significant increase in seatbelt use and bicycle helmet use when these were made mandatory, and the countless lives that have been saved as a result.

The current lack of oversight and enforcement is a mistake.

Again, based on my 35 years of safety management experience, I can tell you that rules that are not enforced are not taken seriously.

I consider myself a lawabiding, sensible individual but I know I would speed much more than I do if it were not for the fact I would get a ticket.

It’s not so much fear of the ticket as it is that tickets and police enforcement remind me of how important it is to stay within the speed limit, because I could hurt someone.

I recently visited a hardware store and was aghast that most of the staff were totally ignoring physical distancing. The same was true, only somewhat less so, in the supermarket.

This is a contravention of both the public health order and the Newfoundland and Labrador Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act, yet no one seems to be checking on these establishments for compliance.

Indeed, even in cases of blatant non-compliance right in front of the Confederation Building, nothing was done.

This sends the wrong message and trivializes the health orders. The health minister’s position, that enforcement is the sole purview of the police and government officials, does not hold water. See how long it would take the justice minister to act if the police stopped issuing speeding tickets or the services minister to act if OHS officers stopped enforcement of the law.

The lack of testing of persons at risk is a major mistake.

While the minister may argue that the current test for COVID-19 is not a screening test, this is largely semantics.

It certainly is not an ideal screening test but it can be used for screening.

I fully understand that the test is somewhat invasive and has high sensitivity, but it can still be used for screening persons like store staff and others who interact with the public and who have both a high risk of being infected and a high risk of spreading the infection.

While a negative test today is no guarantee of a negative test tomorrow, the same is true of all screening.

Testing high-risk individuals does provide some level of protection and, more importantly, gives government a better idea of the prevalence of the virus among the population. Given the levels of asymptomatic spread of the virus, it is misleading to report no new cases when we are only testing 100 people a day.

If we can test 600 people a day, why not test them? There is no downside that has been explained to me.

The root of these and other problems is the total lack of criticism or challenge from the media, and the disappearance of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. It seems both are quite happy to buy whatever the government is selling without critical thought or research. The government has done well.

They can do better, and need to be held to account, as we all do. Peter E. Noel St. John’s