MLAs grill Hinshaw on lack of COVID-19 projections, aerosol transmission

EDMONTON -

Alberta's chief medical officer of health faced tough questions about the province's COVID-19 response Tuesday morning as she appeared in front of a legislature committee.

MLAs asked Dr. Deena Hinshaw why the province didn't use long-term projections to guide its response a year ago, a fact that was revealed in emails obtained by the opposition NDP.

“There is some modelling related work but nothing planned regarding projections. This is purposeful: we’ve been advised not to pursue projections as there are too many uncertainties," a ministry employee wrote in an email dated Sept. 2, 2020.

"Given that the outcomes of such work may not be supported by all leadership, I would suggest not pursuing this work yourselves,” the email said.

There were about 50 people in hospital from the virus in early September 2020.

That number rocketed to more than 900 in January 2021, at the peak of Alberta's second wave.

"Who made the decision not to pursue projections?" NDP MLA Rakhi Pancholi asked.

"Uh, I am sorry. I don’t have that specific information. I would have to take that under advisement to see if that’s something we can provide," Hinshaw told the Public Accounts Committee.

Some doctors, public health experts and the NDP have all alleged that Dr. Hinshaw has repeatedly waited too long to enact restrictions, as her guidance has led Alberta to some of the biggest waves in Canada.

But Dr. Hinshaw defended her approach again on Tuesday, saying short-term projections have been used to make decisions throughout the pandemic. Hinshaw also claimed that longer-term projections are less precise.

"Actions were taken in a stepwise approach beginning with least restrictive, moving into most restrictive," Dr. Hinshaw said.

'THERE IS A SPECTRUM OF TRANSMISSION'

For months, experts have been calling for businesses and schools to improve ventilation systems to help prevent transmission.

The Alberta Teachers' Association has asked the province to provide funding to school districts to aid in upgrading ventilation.

On Tuesday, Dr. Hinshaw acknowledged that aerosol transmission is a concern.

"There is a spectrum of transmission which includes aerosolized particles when there are several high risk combined factors, such as small spaces, poor ventilation, overcrowding and a long duration of time," she said.

Last fall, the province allowed schools to decide how to spend $250 million in federal funding.

The NDP alleges the province failed to protect Albertans by not providing better guidance to school boards.

"Clearly COVID-19 was spreading in schools. Clearly kids were taking this home to their family members and that had at times deadly consequences. This could have been addressed had the government followed the advice of their own health officials," said NDP MLA Sarah Hoffman.

Dr. Hinshaw said she did advise on the best way to minimize transmission, but it's not up to her to decide where money is spent.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski