Wednesday, January 27, 2021

A YEAR OF COVID CLUELESSNESS

   John Robson: Next time Dr. Theresa Tam or Christine Elliott explains as if to a dim and insolent child the transcendent wisdom of the latest lockdown, release from lockdown, decision to delay the second vaccination dose or anything else, they’ll exude the same air of expertise sufficiently ponderous to smother all dissent. Even though every prediction they’ve made about this being a turning point, that being about to happen and the other being all but impossible has been wrong, nothing can dent their self-confidence.

If I could, I’d ask who told Minister Elliott a year ago Ontario had this one in the bag? Did she scrutinize reports from medical experts on flaws in the SARS response and measures taken since to prepare and say OK, we’re ready, good on you for destroying all those masks? Or just welcome PR staff from the premier’s office bearing the sheet music to “We are the best” scored for trombone and pomposity?

As for Dr. Tam, she is a medical expert. By what contorted logic or understanding of medical history (including the inexorable spread of the Black Death half a millennium before the first contrail spawned the first contrail conspiracy theory) did she think COVID couldn’t get here from China if we said “No thanks” while continuing to land planeloads of travellers from, uh, China? Did anyone tell her we couldn’t contain the Hong Kong Flu in 1968? Why would anyone have to, given her job and training?

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