Local leaders reflect on first two years of the pandemic

As we collectively enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, SooToday interviewed mayor Christian Provenzano, MPP Ross Romano and MP Terry Sheehan, as well as Dr. John Tuinema, the associate medical officer of health for Algoma, for a look back at the Sault’s response so far.

“I think at this two-year mark it’s important to look back, especially to those early days,” said Tuinema. “That was a scary time. It was a new virus and we didn’t know a ton about it. We knew which measures should work, but we didn’t know how well they would work.”

Tuinema noted the provincial modelling released by premier Doug Ford about two weeks before the banning of outdoor gatherings and other restrictions revealed a dire situation.

“The modelling showed if we did nothing we could be looking at as many as 100,000 deaths," said Tuinema.  

After two years, the total number of COVID-19 deaths in Ontario is just over 12,300, which is within the projected 3,000 to 15,000 predicted in those early days. In Algoma, a total of 40 people have died so far from COVID-19.

Sheehan recalls the earliest days of the pandemic, when a case was identified in a man from Sudbury who attended the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto on March 2 and 3, 2020.

Prime minister Justin Trudeau and Sheehan were among those also in attendance at the conference.

He recalls returning to Sault Ste. Marie and taking call after call from constituents concerned about the virus as it began to spread across other parts of Canada and the world.

“People were feeling really hopeless. There were no vaccines invented in the world, it was overtaking our system and our long-term care homes,” said Sheehan. “It was an absolutely terrible time.”

At the same time, Sheehan’s office was working to bring home the many Saultites who were travelling abroad at the time.

Sheehan said he was doing his best to reassure people while working with the federal government on things like the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE), which was in short supply at the time.

Romano said in the early days of the pandemic the provincial supply of PPE had been depleted or was past expiry dates.

At the time, most new PPE had to be acquired from sources outside of Canada, but of course during a global pandemic many countries were less than willing to send their inventory overseas.

In the two years since the pandemic was called, a number of local suppliers of PPE have stepped up.

He said we now have our own network and steady supply of PPE.

As waves of the pandemic struck other parts of the province, creating hot spots in some areas, Sault Ste. Marie was faring relatively well through most of the two years.

“The qualification of the word waves of the pandemic were chosen very strategically,” said Romano. “If you think of a wave, it will strike different areas at different times.”

Romano said Sault Ste. Marie’s distance from the hot spots in southern Ontario helped its residents to adapt and minimize the virus’s effect here.

“We did have the privilege through a lot of the time through this pandemic to see things unfold as the waves of the pandemic struck other areas first,” said Romano. “I think we fared well because we followed, for the most part, the rules and we were mindful of what we were learning.”

Provenzano said the Sault demonstrated some of its best qualities from the outset of the pandemic.

”We are a community that largely sticks together and I think you saw that in how well the community at large adhered to public health recommendations,” said Provenzano. “It didn’t surprise me at any point that our case counts were low for the largest part of the two years of the pandemic because I knew Sault Ste. Marie had it in it to not only look out for yourself, but also to look out for your neighbours.”

Looking ahead to year three, Provenzano said we need to recognize that everybody is tired of this pandemic.

“There are a lot of people who have made a lot of sacrifices and there are a lot of people who haven’t spent time with important people in their lives, whether they are grandchildren or grandparents or parents or children because they were making those sacrifices,” said Provenzano. “Everybody wants to get back to normal and everyone wants to get back together and those are understandable things and we should support them. At the same time, we should also be mindful of the fact that the pandemic is not yet over. We may feel like we are done with it, but it isn’t done with us.”

Provenzano said we need to be conscientious and mindful about public health advice and about doing what we can to minimize the rapid spread of COVID and its variants to make sure we don’t put too much stress on our hospital system.

Tuinema said hospitalizations in the region are currently low, but that is something Algoma Public Health will be looking at closely as restrictions like masking are removed.

Of all the interventions that have been put in place over the course of the pandemic, masking is one that has been constant.

“With masking it’s interesting because we know every time we remove a restriction or a different measure that we are going to see an increase in cases, but the question remains by how much will those cases rise?” said Tuinema.

Some people will still elect to wear a mask, said Tuinema, and he noted it will still be an effective tool in the toolbox of people who are trying to stay safe, along with physical distancing and vaccinations.

“Two years has been a very long time. It has been very hard for everybody. We are not quite out of this yet and there are still things people can do to keep themselves safe,” said Tuinema. “As we move away from different restrictions that we have been somewhat comfortable with the past two years it’s important to remember that there is still a lot you can do and the usual protections still apply.”

Romano hopes people will remain respectful and understanding as mandatory masking is lifted in the province on March 21. 

“If a person chooses to wear a mask I think that’s their choice and we should respect that. I think we will probably see a lot of people continue to take those kinds of safety precautions,” said Romano.

Saulites have worked hard to get back to a kind of new normal, said Romano.

“I think there is positivity ahead and that we should all be encouraged by these signs, while we have to be cautiously optimistic, I think,” said Romano. “We have to be able to move forward in a way that allows our economy to move forward, that doesn’t in any way jeopardize peoples’ health in other areas.”

As testing requirements at the border are about to be lifted, Sheehan said the federal government is ready to stay nimble to respond quickly to any changes in the pandemic, including new variants.

“Today we are in a lot better position than we were in the beginning and we are in a better position to deal with any future variants,” said Sheehan. “I have only been proud of Sault Ste. Marie — neighbours helping neighbours.”