I'm sometimes spurred on by the idea that it's possible for average people to put things together in a way that might have an effect.
I read Michelle McNamara's excellent true crime book I'll Be Gone in the Dark a few years ago, and I keep thinking about it. Significant useful theories about the case came from average people discussing it on message boards, which actually prompted the capture of a serial killer.
Several people on social media are posting lists of early emails about the pandemic. I'm not sure any of them are a gotcha in any substantial way, yet I'm absolutely compelled to read through them!! They're all really just proof that our highly-paid and democratically elected officials had no idea how to take the decisive action needed when it was needed in order to prevent spread of this virus. I could forgive them their earlier gaffs if they took any decisive action to curb the spread now!
Here's another set of emails from Bean & Sprout's Mom, who says,
"While schools were closed / online and people were working from home and banging pots and pans for healthcare workers every night, Imperial Oil's Kearl site was spreading COVID across Canada. I can't think of a more darkly perfect pandemic story."
Kearl Lake is in northern Alberta, 40 km north of Fort McMurray, where an outbreak was first officially reported on April 16, 2020, although the Globe and Mail wrote about it on Wednesday, April 15th:
"Dr. Deena Hinshaw (Alberta's CMOH at the time) said Wednesday that Alberta Health Services has implemented outbreak procedures at the Kearl site to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission. . . . The company said a small number of other Imperial workers have tested positive for the contagion over the past several weeks while off-site. It said anyone who many have been in contact with infected workers has been informed and asked to self-isolate at home. Imperial has had a dedicated COVID-19 team for Kearl in place since mid-March. It said measures to curb the virus on-site include enhanced cleaning and sterilization, employee health monitoring, and isolation and treatment of sick individuals. . . .
Dr. Hinshaw said the consequences of shutting down the sites would be 'significant' in an economic and practical sense, 'so we're doing our best to make sure they have all the information that they need and the guidance they need to operate in the safest way possible." . . . Shutting down the oil sands 'sounds a lot easier than it it actually is,' Mr. Kenney (Alberta premier at the time) said, and could have 'devastating' long-term economic effects on Alberta."
We were in the cleaning and sterilizing hygiene theatre part of the show at this point, although Fauci said we should be in N95s on March 1st! Under no circumstances were they going to stop the plant from running. That was made crystal clear.
The emails about this specific outbreak paint a picture of government officials bumbling around trying to get information on the workers who were present during the outbreak in order to track them, but the worksite said the workers' info was confidential, so the MLAs and Medical Officers couldn't figure out who they were or how to warn anybody, and they spent way too long trying to figure out what to do! There's over 30 pages of trying to figure out how to contact infected workers. I skipped all that.
Here are just a few snippets of their words over ten days taken from 116 pages of emails:
Wednesday, April 22
Kamran Golmohammadi (CMO, First Nations Health Authority) wrote to Eleni Galanis (epidemiologist at BC Center for Disease Control) and Bonnie Henry (BC Health Officer) after there was an outbreak at an independent living facility and a Long Term Care home in Kelowna, BC:
"It looks like what we have been fearing most is happening. We have now evidence that suggests infected workers returning and spreading infection to others, ending up impacting our most vulnerable populations."
Friday, April 24
Galanis wrote,
"Imperial Oil Kearl Lake Camp in northern Alberta has been experiencing a COVID outbreak among workers. The outbreak is being managed by the employer. Workers who had a private vehicle were allowed to return home; those who did not are being quarantined on site."
Ronald Chapman (Northern Health, BC) wrote,
"Dr. Harry Keyter from the Valemount Diagnostic Clinic phoned and said they were informed that there was a Covid-19 outbreak at the Kearl Industrial Camp in Alberta and that they are sending 1000 workers home and that some of those workers will be returning to Valemount. He did not have a list of names of the returning workers. The outbreak was reported on the 16 April and it appears, they have not been able to control the infection and sending the workers home."
Capital Daily, a Victoria paper, suggested the provincial officials had made a huge mistake:
"The province 'thwarted' remote community attempts to lock down. Now, one of them has recorded its first death."
Those in power took until April 25th to agree on the official dates of infection in order to ask people to quarantine if they were at the camp between March 23rd and April 16th.
Saturday, April 25
Jong Kim (Northern Health Medical Officer in BC) wrote to Kamran, Eleni, Bonnie and others,
"NH team have started to contact some of the workers on the list. And we found that many of them have already returned to the camp. They were not given any instruction to self isolate and have been travelling back and forth. Given the flight information, NH is expecting most of the workers in our list are back in the camp. I am unclear how to proceed."
There were 757 names of workers at the site, but had no contact information. A redacted name, indicated as "s.22" (but possibly Keyter - ?) wrote to Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix (Vancouver MLA),
"I have been trying to bring this to your attention for some time now, and now what I feared would happen, is happening. Please close these camps down as soon as possible."
Jane Buxton (medical lead at BCCDC) said,
"I mentioned we had concerns re some of the men had gone home without any instructions re self-monitoring."
Sunday, April 26
Brian Emerson (Deputy Provincial Health Officer, BC) to Silvina Mema (Deputy CMHO, BC)
"At the CMHO meeting last week you mentioned drafting an order based on Bonnie's oral order made at the press conference. Please send that to me. I understand people from Kearl Lake are coming back to various locations so we could issue on PHO letterhead."
Deena Hinshaw wrote,
"The local MOH has provided the following information: Workers are not being sent home. There are some project and rotation changes but nothing specific to infection. There have been no intentional layoffs related to the CovId [sic] situation."
Friday, May 1
Eleni Galanis wrote in a summary of a national call, "The outbreak at Kearl Lake is still active (last onset Apr. 26). Increased controls have been implemented as of Apr. 16. Cases and contacts who are onsite are being managed onsite. Management of contacts offsite is unclear. . . . I don't feel this outbreak is yet under control and I am not confident that close contacts of cases who have left the worksite have been identified and managed."
Dr. Dee Hoyano (Island Health, BC, Medical Health Officer): "Our MHO groups would also appreciate a provincial direction on this travel-related self-isolation as there are multiple trips back and forth to this site, so very difficult to track the whereabouts of workers over time."
John Harding (Vancouver Coast Health doctor): "I agree with Kamran. Given that we don't have the contact information required, I am supportive of a messaging approach."
Eleni Galanis: "Given we are currently unable to differentiate close contacts from other returned workers, we (BCCDC docs) agree with maintaining our current messaging as provided by Bonnie twice in the last 2 wks, that all returned workers from Kearl Lake need to self-isolate at home for 14 d upon return. This means that these workers (several hundred a week) should not have close contact with HH members."
Bonnie Henry: "I am not sure about why we would say they not return to work? Would we not consider them like other essential workers where they self isolate and monitor for symptoms and not take public transit etc. but can return to work (in their own vehicle) where they have the measures in place for distancing etc."
Minutes of a meeting appear to show an attempt to find alternative causes to deaths likely caused by Covid-19 and an attempt to cover their asses, but judge for yourself:
"Eleni presented on the precirculated slide set. Discussion: that causes of deaths are still to come that may clarify contributions including potentially unintended consequences such as cancelled surgeries. DPIC slide showing increased exposure to household cleaners largely because of using higher than recommended concentrations of bleach, or mixing with other cleaners. Sustained increase in MSP billings for asthma starting in February and ongoing to present. Coincidental with increase in sale of salbutamol; hypotheses discussed were the late peak of influenza, high levels of pollen, more concern about wheezing than usual which may or may not be COVID-19 related. . . .
Bonnie indicated that during a public health emergency, her giving a verbal order in her media briefing is sufficient. Issue is that messaging from Imperial Oil and AH has been different than the one from BC PHO. Bonnie asked whether messaging using social media can be done; Heather Amos has already done this but the suggestion that a press release be issues. IHA is supportive of that as they have the majority of the individuals and two outbreaks have been related to these workers."
Saturday, May 2
More than two weeks after the outbreak was first in the news, Adrian Dix tweeted,
"The outbreak at the Kearl Lake plant in Alberta continues to impact us. It is vitally important that anyone who has been at the site since March 24 follows the BC requirements when at home."
Monika Naus (Medical Director at BCCDC):
"Please note that while there is still a call on our calendars for Sunday at 5:15 pm, it's my understanding that this is NOT happening i.e., we made a decision not to meet on Sundays, unless there are urgent issues to address."
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