Canadians have lost faith in Dr. Theresa Tam and the Public Health Agency of Canada, Conservative MPs said during a House of Commons health committee where they grilled senior public health officers on their response to COVID-19.
During an Oct. 18 committee meeting, Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux read a selection of statements made by Tam and Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo in the early days of the pandemic, asking “what we could do differently or next steps that could have been taken to prevent the rapid spread of the pandemic.”
Jeneroux cited quotes from Tam, who said that “Canadians should not be concerned they can pick up the virus from an infected individual by any casual contact such as walking through the airport or any other public space” on Jan. 27, 2020, that “sealing off the borders is not an effective approach to containing the virus” on March 4, 2020, and that “putting a mask on an asymptomatic person is not beneficial" on March 30, 2020.
He also read a quote from Njoo, who said, “We have contained the virus,” on Feb. 26, 2020.
“Hindsight is 20/20,” Tam said in response. “Information and the evolution of the understanding of the virus was changing all the time.”“We need to have humility in the face of these viruses for sure,” she said. “I am sure there’s a lot we can do.”
