An Ottawa family physician claimed on TVO Today that wanting to go back to the pre-pandemic "normal," is the language of far-right "anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, and ableists."."They disregard the impact of COVID on seniors, children, educators, essential workers and healthcare workers," said Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, an Ottawa physician and candidate for Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Trustee.."There's nothing normal about taking away their protections and the proactive measures that we had to reduce transmission of COVID.".Kaplan-Myrth made the remarks on Tuesday during a televised debate with Dr. Matt Strauss, chief medical officer of health for Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit, and Maxwell Smith, a bioethicist and professor at Western University..When Kaplan-Myrth was asked by anchor Steven Paikin why she chose to wear a N-95 mask during the show, she responded that COVID-19 is airborne and wearing it will protect "myself, my patients, my staff and the community."."It's really not a hardship. I wear my mask from the moment I arrive at my office in the morning to the end of the day," she while seated in her doctor's office..Kaplan-Mirth said the government of Ontario is withholding data, barring teachers from reporting COVID-19 cases in classrooms, and stopping doctors from conducting PCR testing.."We're no longer collecting any of the information that would actually provide the public with the required knowledge to make informed decisions," she said.."COVID is not over and the number of people who are going to be reinfected because we've dropped all of our preventative measures... is going to lead to a worsening of the healthcare crisis and is going to lead to a worsening of COVID in our communities, affecting every single one of us.".Strauss responded by acknowledging that COVID hasn't ended, and by pointing out that the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919 is still around today.."I wish COVID would go away, but it's not going away. And so we have to be realistic and talk about measures that we understand to be effective, and engage in those measures," he said..Strauss said despite the Ontario government implementing "cruel and coercive measures" such as vaccine mandates, capacity restrictions and lockdowns, most people still contracted COVID-19.."So I don't think that it's ignorant to decide not to double down on restrictive measures that have been proven ineffective.".Later in the interview, Kaplan-Mirth said that claiming masks are some form of hardship is "inappropriate." She claimed masking has not interfered with anybody's ability to make friends, play or work.."In fact, in Italy, opera singers are onstage wearing masks. There is nothing that you are saying that that is based in science or medicine," Kaplan-Mirth said to Strauss.."What you are saying is based in right-wing, anti-mask, anti-vax ideology, which has been your calling card throughout the pandemic.".Strauss called the accusations "patently false," pointing out that he has encouraged COVID-19 vaccines many times and supports masking, "in appropriate settings." But he said that given the virus' airborne nature, other measures, such as plexiglass dividers and hand sanitizer, were "pandemic theatre."."I think when they barricaded Hyde Park so that people couldn't walk around and take pictures with cherry blossoms, that was pretty ridiculous," he said..Kaplan-Myrth said in Ontario, politicians have pandered to a "very small group of people who occupied our streets in Ottawa and have gone around spreading misinformation like wildfire," in reference to the Freedom Convoy.."People are getting all of this information from people who are anti-science, anti-democracy, and honestly, they're not sure what to do because the public health units themselves had said to us, they can't push back against the Ontario government because that is their boss," she said..On the subject of Western University's vaccine and mask mandates, Strauss said it is another example of "pandemic theatre" and an "incorrect mandate at an incorrect time.".Smith said implementing vaccine mandates to protect students from serious COVID-19 complications, "might not make much sense." But he pointed out that Western's stated goal is to "preserve the in-person experience."."They know that three doses of vaccine and everyone wearing a mask will reduce the risk of infection. How much risk is sufficient to warrant the mandate, people will fall down on different ends of that spectrum. For Western University, they felt that in order to lower that risk, this was justified," he said.
