Province missed mark with mask-handout plan

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/01/2022 (1741 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As Christmas gifts go, the Manitoba government’s gesture of handing out high-quality masks at its liquor stores and casinos was about as thoughtful as giving a scented candle or an ugly tie to the one you love.

Prior to the holiday, the government announced it would give out KN95 masks at the Crown agencies and at MLAs’ constituency offices — to help protect Manitobans from COVID-19’s Omicron variant, according to Reg Helwer, the province’s central services minister.

Mr. Helwer said turning the government-controlled liquor stores and casinos into mask depots was the quickest way to get the supplies to the public, and that more than a million of them were handed out in a day and a half.

However, he ruled out widening their distribution, with a statement that suggests the province is more concerned with the economy than with the health of its citizens.

“They are readily available for sale at many commercial operations, so we don’t really want to compete with them too much,” he said.

If there was ever a time to be unconcerned about business rivalry, it’s when record numbers are getting sick and the province’s health-care system is once again on the brink of being overwhelmed.

For the fourth time in two years, COVID-19 is running roughshod over doctors, nurses, teachers, students and Manitobans who are sick with the virus, whether under a warm blanket at home or under medical care in a crowded hospital ward.

Mr. Helwer and the government he’s part of should be more concerned with the health of Manitobans and the province’s stretched health-care system than any company’s sales figures.

The mask giveaway at liquor stores and casinos was convenient for some, but hardly ideal for those who neither drink nor gamble. It was also a bad bet for those with mobility issues, or those with addictions related to where alcohol is sold and dice are rolled.

Rubbing shoulders in a store filled with holiday shoppers and mask-seekers was also an unacceptably risky wager for some who were following provincial recommendations by steering clear of crowds. Also out of luck were those under 18 who are not allowed in liquor stores and casinos.

Providing the masks at other government agencies, such as the Access Centres operated by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, would make them more accessible, put more boxes of masks in people’s hands, and eventually over their noses and mouths.

Last year, the province’s pandemic response was hamstrung by slow vaccine rollouts and an overwhelmed health-care system that resorted to sending intensive-care patients to other provinces. Government was slow to act on the lessons learned from the pandemic’s earlier waves, with such measures as adding hospital beds and building testing capacity.

That pattern is being repeated in the early days of 2022, which has Manitoba’s health-care system swamped once again in the face of a vastly more contagious COVID-19 variant.

To top it off, after the province’s testing sites were overwhelmed, on Jan. 5 the government effectively conceded it is no longer able to track infection rates, announcing it would ration the use of PCR tests and instead offer less accurate rapid-antigen tests for people to determine themselves whether they have contracted the virus.

While the Omicron variant has created problems few foresaw only a few weeks ago, the provincial government has failed to act in the proactive manner Premier Heather Stefanson insists has been its approach since the outset.

In the difficult weeks ahead, Manitobans need fewer noble gestures and more decisive action to address COVID-19 in a manner that restores public confidence.