What do you think?
Rate this book
Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe: Three Words and Four Weeks that shaped a pandemic
From the BC doctor who has become a household name for leading the response to the pandemic, a personal account of the first weeks of COVID, for readers of Sam Nutt's Damned Nations and James Maskayk's Life on the Ground Floor.
Dr. Bonnie Henry has been called one of the most effective public health figures in the world by The New York Times. She has been called a calming voice in a sea of coronavirus madness, and our hero in national newspapers. But in the waning days of 2019, when the first rumours of a strange respiratory ailment in Wuhan, China began to trickle into her office in British Colombia, these accolades lay in a barely imaginable future.
Only weeks later, the whole world would look back on the previous year with the kind of nostalgia usually reserved for the distant past. With a staggering suddenness, our livelihoods, our closest relationships, our habits and our homes had all been transformed.
In a moment when half-truths threatened to drown out the truth, when recklessness all too often exposed those around us to very real danger, and when it was difficult to tell paranoia from healthy respect for an invisible threat, Dr. Henry's transparency, humility, and humanity became a beacon for millions of Canadians.
And her trademark enjoinder to be kind, be calm, and be safe became words for us all to live by.
Coincidentally, Dr. Henry's sister, Lynn, arrived in BC for a long-planned visit on March 12, just as the virus revealed itself as a pandemic. For the four ensuing weeks, Lynn had rare insight into the whirlwind of Bonnie's daily life, with its moments of agony and gravity as well as its occasional episodes of levity and grace. Both a global story and a family story, Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe combines Lynn's observations and knowledge of Bonnie's personal and professional background with Bonnie's recollections of how and why decisions were made, to tell in a vivid way the dramatic tale of the four weeks that changed all our lives.
Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe is about communication, leadership, and public trust; about the balance between politics and policy; and, at heart, about what and who we value, as individuals and a society.
The authors' advance from the publisher will be donated to charities with a focus on alleviating communities hit particularly hard by the pandemic: True North Aid with its Covid-19 response in Northern Indigenous communities, and First Book Canada, with its focus on reading and literacy for underserved, marginalized youth.
Dr. Bonnie Henry has been called one of the most effective public health figures in the world by The New York Times. She has been called a calming voice in a sea of coronavirus madness, and our hero in national newspapers. But in the waning days of 2019, when the first rumours of a strange respiratory ailment in Wuhan, China began to trickle into her office in British Colombia, these accolades lay in a barely imaginable future.
Only weeks later, the whole world would look back on the previous year with the kind of nostalgia usually reserved for the distant past. With a staggering suddenness, our livelihoods, our closest relationships, our habits and our homes had all been transformed.
In a moment when half-truths threatened to drown out the truth, when recklessness all too often exposed those around us to very real danger, and when it was difficult to tell paranoia from healthy respect for an invisible threat, Dr. Henry's transparency, humility, and humanity became a beacon for millions of Canadians.
And her trademark enjoinder to be kind, be calm, and be safe became words for us all to live by.
Coincidentally, Dr. Henry's sister, Lynn, arrived in BC for a long-planned visit on March 12, just as the virus revealed itself as a pandemic. For the four ensuing weeks, Lynn had rare insight into the whirlwind of Bonnie's daily life, with its moments of agony and gravity as well as its occasional episodes of levity and grace. Both a global story and a family story, Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe combines Lynn's observations and knowledge of Bonnie's personal and professional background with Bonnie's recollections of how and why decisions were made, to tell in a vivid way the dramatic tale of the four weeks that changed all our lives.
Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe is about communication, leadership, and public trust; about the balance between politics and policy; and, at heart, about what and who we value, as individuals and a society.
The authors' advance from the publisher will be donated to charities with a focus on alleviating communities hit particularly hard by the pandemic: True North Aid with its Covid-19 response in Northern Indigenous communities, and First Book Canada, with its focus on reading and literacy for underserved, marginalized youth.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published March 9, 2021
16 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Bonnie Henry
4 books7 followersDr. Bonnie Henry was appointed as Provincial Health Officer for the Province of British Columbia in 2018. As BC’s most senior public health official, Dr. Henry is responsible for monitoring the health of all British Columbians and undertaking measures for disease prevention and control and health protection. Most recently, Dr. Henry has led the province’s response on the COVID-19 pandemic and drug overdose emergency.
Dr. Henry’s experience in public health, preventative medicine and global pandemics has extended throughout her career. Prior to her current role, Dr. Henry was the deputy provincial health officer for three years. She also served as the interim provincial executive medical director of the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) from December 2013 until August 2014.
She was the medical director of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control and Public Health Emergency Management with the BCCDC and medical director for the provincial emerging and vector-borne diseases program, as well as a provincial program for surveillance and control of healthcare associated infections from 2005 to 2014.
Dr. Henry joined Toronto Public Health in 2001 as Associate Medical Officer of Health, where she was responsible for the Emergency Services Unit and the Communicable Disease Liaison Unit. In 2003, she was the operational lead in the response to the SARS outbreak in Toronto. She was a member of the executive team of the Ontario SARS Scientific Advisory Committee.
Dr. Henry is a specialist in public health and preventive medicine and is board certified in preventive medicine in the U.S. She graduated from Dalhousie Medical School and completed a Masters in Public Health in San Diego, residency training in preventive medicine at University of California, San Diego and in community medicine at University of Toronto.
She has worked internationally including with the WHO/UNICEF polio eradication program in Pakistan and with the World Health Organization to control the Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
Dr. Henry is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine. She is the past chair of Immunize Canada and a member of the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization and the National Infection Control Guidelines Steering Committee. She chaired the Canadian Public Health Measures Task Group and was a member of the Infection Control Expert Group and the Canadian Pandemic Coordinating Committee responding to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
She has been involved with planning, surveillance and response to mass gatherings in Canada and internationally, including with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Dr. Henry’s experience in public health, preventative medicine and global pandemics has extended throughout her career. Prior to her current role, Dr. Henry was the deputy provincial health officer for three years. She also served as the interim provincial executive medical director of the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) from December 2013 until August 2014.
She was the medical director of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control and Public Health Emergency Management with the BCCDC and medical director for the provincial emerging and vector-borne diseases program, as well as a provincial program for surveillance and control of healthcare associated infections from 2005 to 2014.
Dr. Henry joined Toronto Public Health in 2001 as Associate Medical Officer of Health, where she was responsible for the Emergency Services Unit and the Communicable Disease Liaison Unit. In 2003, she was the operational lead in the response to the SARS outbreak in Toronto. She was a member of the executive team of the Ontario SARS Scientific Advisory Committee.
Dr. Henry is a specialist in public health and preventive medicine and is board certified in preventive medicine in the U.S. She graduated from Dalhousie Medical School and completed a Masters in Public Health in San Diego, residency training in preventive medicine at University of California, San Diego and in community medicine at University of Toronto.
She has worked internationally including with the WHO/UNICEF polio eradication program in Pakistan and with the World Health Organization to control the Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
Dr. Henry is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine. She is the past chair of Immunize Canada and a member of the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization and the National Infection Control Guidelines Steering Committee. She chaired the Canadian Public Health Measures Task Group and was a member of the Infection Control Expert Group and the Canadian Pandemic Coordinating Committee responding to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
She has been involved with planning, surveillance and response to mass gatherings in Canada and internationally, including with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
March 16, 2021
I find it very interesting that all the people giving this book a one star review have not read any other books or this is the only book they have marked as “read”. Seems very targeted to me and it is obvious they set up a Goodreads acct to just come on here and rate a book they obviously haven’t read. That one star rating will not last long because it was a great book just as her other one was
Read
February 22, 2021On July 21st, 2020, I arrived with my family at YVR from Tokyo, Japan. We followed the instructions exactly, including quarantining for 2 weeks under the threat of a 1 million dollar fine if we left our residence. We had no problem with the rules because it was absolutely the correct thing to do to keep our new community and us safe. Before arriving, I watched Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix deliver their COVID updates, and I felt pretty good about where BC was at.
Since March 2020, we wore masks in Japan the minute we left the house, constantly washed our hands, and took our temperatures every day. My 10-year-old son attended school a couple of days a week, and he, his classmates and teachers all wore masks the entire time, even at recess.
From our quarantine porch in Vancouver, we observed people hopping into Ubers without masks, hugging each other on the sidewalks, then walking in opposite directions. Our food was delivered with bare faces, and people were partying on the beach and nearby houses. We learned that kids would not be required to wear masks in school. We felt like we were in the twilight zone. We felt unsafe.
An article from July 22, 2020
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...
B.C. doctor heads to court to demand mandatory mask rules
Health officials have recommended masks but resisted calls to make them mandatory indoors
"During Phase 3, many services including movie theatres and churches have been allowed to reopen at reduced capacity, and the government is once again encouraging residents to travel within the province.
Right now, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry generally recommends wearing a mask in situations like riding the bus, where physical distancing isn't possible.
She has so far resisted calls to make masks mandatory in indoor spaces, saying it's too difficult to enforce — especially when some people have legitimate reasons for not wearing a mask that may not be readily apparent to others."
Fast forward to February 21, 2021. With 5 million residents, BC has had 1,327 deaths and Tokyo, with the same population as Canada, ~37 million people, has had 1,265 deaths. Not to mention, Japan has the world's oldest population.
My Mom is 70 years old and works as a high school counsellor at a school with exposures, some not publicly disclosed because teachers were threatened if they spoke up. She calls me in tears because she and her colleagues do not feel safe at school. And yet, despite not being given priority for the vaccine, she goes to school day after day because the kids need her. The BC government completely ignored a petition with 68,000 signatures by parents and educators asking to delay back-to-school after a 2-week winter break where people were travelling and gathering with family members. There is no accountability. There is no transparency into what science is being followed. There is minimal testing. There isn't sufficient data being shared to understand the contact tracing being done due to privacy laws. People continue to gather at parties with minimal repercussions. I was threatened with a 1 million dollar fine if I left my house for 2 weeks whereas someone can hold a party with dozens of people and be fined 2300 dollars.
I understand that she has an incredibly difficult job and she and her team have worked hard on behalf of the people of BC. I am grateful for that. But, it is inexplicably tone-deaf for this book to be published when people are still infected and still dying. It is a slap in the face to every British Columbian that can't see their family or friends, to every shuttered business, to every silenced teacher, every exhausted parent, every overworked frontline worker, and to every single person waiting for a vaccine on an ambiguous timeline.
Since March 2020, we wore masks in Japan the minute we left the house, constantly washed our hands, and took our temperatures every day. My 10-year-old son attended school a couple of days a week, and he, his classmates and teachers all wore masks the entire time, even at recess.
From our quarantine porch in Vancouver, we observed people hopping into Ubers without masks, hugging each other on the sidewalks, then walking in opposite directions. Our food was delivered with bare faces, and people were partying on the beach and nearby houses. We learned that kids would not be required to wear masks in school. We felt like we were in the twilight zone. We felt unsafe.
An article from July 22, 2020
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...
B.C. doctor heads to court to demand mandatory mask rules
Health officials have recommended masks but resisted calls to make them mandatory indoors
"During Phase 3, many services including movie theatres and churches have been allowed to reopen at reduced capacity, and the government is once again encouraging residents to travel within the province.
Right now, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry generally recommends wearing a mask in situations like riding the bus, where physical distancing isn't possible.
She has so far resisted calls to make masks mandatory in indoor spaces, saying it's too difficult to enforce — especially when some people have legitimate reasons for not wearing a mask that may not be readily apparent to others."
Fast forward to February 21, 2021. With 5 million residents, BC has had 1,327 deaths and Tokyo, with the same population as Canada, ~37 million people, has had 1,265 deaths. Not to mention, Japan has the world's oldest population.
My Mom is 70 years old and works as a high school counsellor at a school with exposures, some not publicly disclosed because teachers were threatened if they spoke up. She calls me in tears because she and her colleagues do not feel safe at school. And yet, despite not being given priority for the vaccine, she goes to school day after day because the kids need her. The BC government completely ignored a petition with 68,000 signatures by parents and educators asking to delay back-to-school after a 2-week winter break where people were travelling and gathering with family members. There is no accountability. There is no transparency into what science is being followed. There is minimal testing. There isn't sufficient data being shared to understand the contact tracing being done due to privacy laws. People continue to gather at parties with minimal repercussions. I was threatened with a 1 million dollar fine if I left my house for 2 weeks whereas someone can hold a party with dozens of people and be fined 2300 dollars.
I understand that she has an incredibly difficult job and she and her team have worked hard on behalf of the people of BC. I am grateful for that. But, it is inexplicably tone-deaf for this book to be published when people are still infected and still dying. It is a slap in the face to every British Columbian that can't see their family or friends, to every shuttered business, to every silenced teacher, every exhausted parent, every overworked frontline worker, and to every single person waiting for a vaccine on an ambiguous timeline.
March 9, 2021
TL/DR: We got lucky last March. Dr. Henry has placed the economy ahead of lives. No one should be profiting off of a pandemic, least of all someone that has skated through it based on how people perceive her, but not on the reality of what was happening on the ground, her sister, or her sister's publishing company.
~~
As a resident of British Columbia, it has been increasingly disheartening to have the world believe that we have been acing our pandemic response, largely due to the actions of Dr. Henry.
Unfortunately, this narrative continues to be perpetuated, and people are shocked to hear that:
-She and the BC CDC still deny airborne transmission. This means:
*Our health care workers are still working under contact/droplet precautions, not airborne
*Our schools still don't have mask mandates ("children are not capable of wearing them for long periods, and there are no proven benefits of having them do so")
*Contact tracing for exposures in schools are still based on face to face contact for 15 minutes - no matter how much time in a day, in a small, poorly ventilated classroom, 30 students and teachers spend, because outside of one school board's high school classrooms, our schools still don't have lowered density
*The one layer of protection in schools is hand washing
-She, the BC CDC, and other Medical Health Officers, still maintain that children are vectors for other viruses, but not SARS-CoV-2. Even though studies have now shown that children can actually be vectors for it, and are often even the index case in their households - especially school aged children.
-School aged children with disabilities or health concerns that put them at higher risk to contract COVID and/or die from it, are told they are not at further risk in schools that don't have mask mandates or distancing/lowered density in place, even when community transmission is high. At-risk teachers, staff, and any person in a school building living with at-risk family members are told the same.
-We don't have language for outbreaks in schools in BC; we can have exposures and clusters, but the criteria for an outbreak in most other jurisdictions (including in BC in LTC homes), does not exist for schools.
Using that as their basis, Dr. Henry and the BC CDC still maintain that schools are completely safe, with very little transmission, however, child cases have risen from ~500 at the beginning of September, to 11,800+ since the first day of school.
Additionally, it is still difficult to get children tested for COVID. The majority of school exposure notices advise parents to send kids to school even if exposed, and monitor for symptoms (disregarding pre/asymptomatic spread, and using a reduced list of symptoms); the app recommended for parents to use for symptom screening *never* indicates a parent should take their child for a test, no matter which symptoms are input; the same tool for adults, with comparable symptoms input, indicates a test is needed.
Contact tracing forms do not allow for parents to choose their children as a close contact.
All of these things mean that we aren't collecting accurate data - and then Dr. Henry maintains that the data show schools are safe. How can we know, when we actively discourage the collection of said data?
The only reason we have a grasp on what might be happening in our schools is because two mums have been meticulously reviewing and cataloguing school exposure letters provided anonymously by parents around the province. But not every case or exposure in a school comes with a letter, so there are many others that are still unaccounted for - both on the school tracker, and in the few government numbers that are released.
Current studies and data from places such as Quebec, Ontario, and the UK, show that schools are actually a vector for further transmission into the community. Because our 'layers of protection' in BC schools are equal to, or less than, the protections in those other jurisdictions, there is no reason why we can't come to the conclusion that it is the same in BC.
-Variants of Concern are currently spreading in our province (most notably B.1.1.7 in schools), and Dr. Henry has stated we are taking a 'wait and see' approach, even though we can see what happened to other countries that did the same thing.
-Our 'situation reports' are at least a week out of date, so when we receive our next one, on March 10th, it will be current to February 27th. Including our VoC count.
-Dr. Henry still discourages the use of rapid tests, even in LTC outbreaks and schools with multiple exposures, indicating they are inaccurate and require three people to administer (while provinces like NS have teenagers trained to use them independently); we have more than TWO MILLION sitting in storage, some close to expiry.
-Dr. Henry still downplays asymptomatic transmission, and residents of BC are still encouraged to get tested only if they are symptomatic. Some people have had to LIE to get tested, about symptoms that aren't measurable by a third party (sore throat, fatigue, headache, muscle aches), and have been found to be positive. Some have still been turned away from testing.
-She and the BC CDC pad the daily public testing numbers with routine, private testing numbers, which improves our percent positivity (which has been above 5% since November, 7th, 2020, and in some areas has been as high as 20%, with no change in restrictions).
-Dr. Henry still refuses to collect and disseminate race based data, even though the Indigenous leaders in BC have been asking her for it, in order to respond appropriately to protect their communities, and even though other jurisdictions that have done so have shown how much more racialized populations are negatively impacted by the spread of COVID.
-There have been numerous discrepancies in data that is provided, for example case numbers being shifted around and back dated. Mario Possamai, who was a senior adviser on the SARS Commission, has been quoted as saying in his Fall 2020 report 'A Time of Fear': "The most problematic jurisdiction may be British Columbia. Its publicly disclosed data has been incomplete, inconsistent and on occasion, seemingly contradictory."
It is notable that one of the findings from the SARS Commission Report is that the Precautionary Principle should be followed when dealing with a novel respiratory virus, and yet none of what Dr. Henry, who was one of the people responsible for the Ontario SARS failures, has done indicates she is following those recommendations.
Vulnerable people, including those with developmental disabilities, are not prioritized for vaccine here, even though they are 3-10x more likely to die of COVID, and other jurisdictions are prioritizing them, because Dr. Henry is focusing on age-based roll out, only. (Again, that data pulled from the US and UK studies, because we don't collect it, either.)
Dr. Henry has stated that aiming for Zero Covid is not possible in BC, even though we have real time examples of provinces - in Canada, even - and countries (not only single country continents, or islands) that have managed to achieve it handily.
In the end, we got lucky last March. Not because of anything Dr. Henry did, but because our March break happened to be well timed with the federal travel restrictions, and eventually we followed the rest of the country in closing schools (one of the most effective NPIs, especially when coupled with government support to keep people safe at home, as in New Zealand), and non-essential businesses. Though there was heel dragging even on those topics.
Since school reopening last June, and economic reopening last June/July, it has been clear that Dr. Henry has put the economy, and saving government money, ahead of saving lives. Or, rather, that there is a number of lives she has accepted as being expendable, to keep the economy open.
She even encouraged us to stay in local hotels, and eat in local restaurants ahead of Family Day in February 2021. (Even though restaurants have been shown to be transmission 'hot spots' elsewhere.) And is now encouraging overnight travel within our province starting NEXT WEEK for March Break, even though we don't have control of community spread, and our VoCs are climbing exponentially.
177 people died before our case levels got down to single digits in July 2020. Instead of being brave, and following in the footsteps of other health officers and leaders that saw the value in brief hard lockdowns to continue to arrest spread and save lives, and keep case numbers low, especially in the face of open borders, Dr. Henry has allowed a further 1214 and counting people, mostly vulnerable residents of Long Term Care facilities, to die.
Currently (March 2021), we have the second highest case rate in Canada, and earlier in the year, led the country in highest per capita LTC deaths.
This book and the timing of its release are tone deaf, and Penguin Random House and Allen Lane Books are tone deaf for publishing it.
No one should be profiting off of a pandemic, least of all someone that has skated through it based on how people perceive her, but not on the reality of what was happening on the ground, her sister, or her sister's publishing company.
~~
As a resident of British Columbia, it has been increasingly disheartening to have the world believe that we have been acing our pandemic response, largely due to the actions of Dr. Henry.
Unfortunately, this narrative continues to be perpetuated, and people are shocked to hear that:
-She and the BC CDC still deny airborne transmission. This means:
*Our health care workers are still working under contact/droplet precautions, not airborne
*Our schools still don't have mask mandates ("children are not capable of wearing them for long periods, and there are no proven benefits of having them do so")
*Contact tracing for exposures in schools are still based on face to face contact for 15 minutes - no matter how much time in a day, in a small, poorly ventilated classroom, 30 students and teachers spend, because outside of one school board's high school classrooms, our schools still don't have lowered density
*The one layer of protection in schools is hand washing
-She, the BC CDC, and other Medical Health Officers, still maintain that children are vectors for other viruses, but not SARS-CoV-2. Even though studies have now shown that children can actually be vectors for it, and are often even the index case in their households - especially school aged children.
-School aged children with disabilities or health concerns that put them at higher risk to contract COVID and/or die from it, are told they are not at further risk in schools that don't have mask mandates or distancing/lowered density in place, even when community transmission is high. At-risk teachers, staff, and any person in a school building living with at-risk family members are told the same.
-We don't have language for outbreaks in schools in BC; we can have exposures and clusters, but the criteria for an outbreak in most other jurisdictions (including in BC in LTC homes), does not exist for schools.
Using that as their basis, Dr. Henry and the BC CDC still maintain that schools are completely safe, with very little transmission, however, child cases have risen from ~500 at the beginning of September, to 11,800+ since the first day of school.
Additionally, it is still difficult to get children tested for COVID. The majority of school exposure notices advise parents to send kids to school even if exposed, and monitor for symptoms (disregarding pre/asymptomatic spread, and using a reduced list of symptoms); the app recommended for parents to use for symptom screening *never* indicates a parent should take their child for a test, no matter which symptoms are input; the same tool for adults, with comparable symptoms input, indicates a test is needed.
Contact tracing forms do not allow for parents to choose their children as a close contact.
All of these things mean that we aren't collecting accurate data - and then Dr. Henry maintains that the data show schools are safe. How can we know, when we actively discourage the collection of said data?
The only reason we have a grasp on what might be happening in our schools is because two mums have been meticulously reviewing and cataloguing school exposure letters provided anonymously by parents around the province. But not every case or exposure in a school comes with a letter, so there are many others that are still unaccounted for - both on the school tracker, and in the few government numbers that are released.
Current studies and data from places such as Quebec, Ontario, and the UK, show that schools are actually a vector for further transmission into the community. Because our 'layers of protection' in BC schools are equal to, or less than, the protections in those other jurisdictions, there is no reason why we can't come to the conclusion that it is the same in BC.
-Variants of Concern are currently spreading in our province (most notably B.1.1.7 in schools), and Dr. Henry has stated we are taking a 'wait and see' approach, even though we can see what happened to other countries that did the same thing.
-Our 'situation reports' are at least a week out of date, so when we receive our next one, on March 10th, it will be current to February 27th. Including our VoC count.
-Dr. Henry still discourages the use of rapid tests, even in LTC outbreaks and schools with multiple exposures, indicating they are inaccurate and require three people to administer (while provinces like NS have teenagers trained to use them independently); we have more than TWO MILLION sitting in storage, some close to expiry.
-Dr. Henry still downplays asymptomatic transmission, and residents of BC are still encouraged to get tested only if they are symptomatic. Some people have had to LIE to get tested, about symptoms that aren't measurable by a third party (sore throat, fatigue, headache, muscle aches), and have been found to be positive. Some have still been turned away from testing.
-She and the BC CDC pad the daily public testing numbers with routine, private testing numbers, which improves our percent positivity (which has been above 5% since November, 7th, 2020, and in some areas has been as high as 20%, with no change in restrictions).
-Dr. Henry still refuses to collect and disseminate race based data, even though the Indigenous leaders in BC have been asking her for it, in order to respond appropriately to protect their communities, and even though other jurisdictions that have done so have shown how much more racialized populations are negatively impacted by the spread of COVID.
-There have been numerous discrepancies in data that is provided, for example case numbers being shifted around and back dated. Mario Possamai, who was a senior adviser on the SARS Commission, has been quoted as saying in his Fall 2020 report 'A Time of Fear': "The most problematic jurisdiction may be British Columbia. Its publicly disclosed data has been incomplete, inconsistent and on occasion, seemingly contradictory."
It is notable that one of the findings from the SARS Commission Report is that the Precautionary Principle should be followed when dealing with a novel respiratory virus, and yet none of what Dr. Henry, who was one of the people responsible for the Ontario SARS failures, has done indicates she is following those recommendations.
Vulnerable people, including those with developmental disabilities, are not prioritized for vaccine here, even though they are 3-10x more likely to die of COVID, and other jurisdictions are prioritizing them, because Dr. Henry is focusing on age-based roll out, only. (Again, that data pulled from the US and UK studies, because we don't collect it, either.)
Dr. Henry has stated that aiming for Zero Covid is not possible in BC, even though we have real time examples of provinces - in Canada, even - and countries (not only single country continents, or islands) that have managed to achieve it handily.
In the end, we got lucky last March. Not because of anything Dr. Henry did, but because our March break happened to be well timed with the federal travel restrictions, and eventually we followed the rest of the country in closing schools (one of the most effective NPIs, especially when coupled with government support to keep people safe at home, as in New Zealand), and non-essential businesses. Though there was heel dragging even on those topics.
Since school reopening last June, and economic reopening last June/July, it has been clear that Dr. Henry has put the economy, and saving government money, ahead of saving lives. Or, rather, that there is a number of lives she has accepted as being expendable, to keep the economy open.
She even encouraged us to stay in local hotels, and eat in local restaurants ahead of Family Day in February 2021. (Even though restaurants have been shown to be transmission 'hot spots' elsewhere.) And is now encouraging overnight travel within our province starting NEXT WEEK for March Break, even though we don't have control of community spread, and our VoCs are climbing exponentially.
177 people died before our case levels got down to single digits in July 2020. Instead of being brave, and following in the footsteps of other health officers and leaders that saw the value in brief hard lockdowns to continue to arrest spread and save lives, and keep case numbers low, especially in the face of open borders, Dr. Henry has allowed a further 1214 and counting people, mostly vulnerable residents of Long Term Care facilities, to die.
Currently (March 2021), we have the second highest case rate in Canada, and earlier in the year, led the country in highest per capita LTC deaths.
This book and the timing of its release are tone deaf, and Penguin Random House and Allen Lane Books are tone deaf for publishing it.
No one should be profiting off of a pandemic, least of all someone that has skated through it based on how people perceive her, but not on the reality of what was happening on the ground, her sister, or her sister's publishing company.
March 7, 2021
Given that Dr Henry and company did barely anything to proactively manage the pandemic, policy was largely non-existent, and about all that was achieved was to parrot endless motherhood statements and platitudes, it is unsurprising that this book is much of the same.
The fact that Dr Henry thinks that her 3 words and 4 weeks shaped the pandemic, speaks to her self-delusion, and this naivety is apparent throughout. Perhaps if Dr Henry has spent more time managing and less time writing, this book might actually have something to say for itself.
The fact that Dr Henry thinks that her 3 words and 4 weeks shaped the pandemic, speaks to her self-delusion, and this naivety is apparent throughout. Perhaps if Dr Henry has spent more time managing and less time writing, this book might actually have something to say for itself.
February 24, 2021
Grossly mismanaging the pandemic while putting teachers in harms way. Is not up to date with current variants of the virus. She did nothing in the first month of the pandemic. I highly suggest not wasting your hard earned money to allow this inept to profit off the pandemic.
January 22, 2022
"A pandemic is a disease that circles the world, affecting people in many countries in a short period of time; this is in contrast to an epidemic or an outbreak, the terms we use for diseases that cause illness in smaller areas at a time."
Late in 2019 there were rumours of an "atypical pneumonia" , meaning a respiratory infection, cause unknown, in Wuhan, China. Dr. Bonnie Henry said to her sister, "When it came to influenza and coronaviruses, China had some of the most knowledgeable scientists in the world".
I enjoyed reading this book written by Dr. Bonnie Henry and her sister Lynn about their thoughts and actions concerning what we now know as Covid-19 during the first few months of 2020. I had listened to Dr. Henry on the radio and appreciated her calming voice as she spoke about the coronavirus.
Dr. Bonnie Henry was the chair of the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health (CCMOH), made up of the senior public health doctors in each province and territory as well as nationally. Its purpose is to share, coordinate, and advocate for health promotion and protection in the country – and, when circumstances require it, to morph into the lead body providing public health advice in an emergency.
"Just like every other chief medical officer of health across the country [Canada], I had a mandate and the legal authority to speak directly to the public about issues related to health.
... it's a fine balance - to be affective in the protection of the public health and to promote that larger goal in a way that engages without alienating....You can make a point or you can make a difference."
"To paraphrase Louis Pasteur, luck favours the prepared." Dr. Henry liked to be prepared, and worked long hours each and every day, getting very little sleep.
She ended her daily press conferences with Be kind, be calm, be safe.
"For me, 'be kind' fosters emotional well-being and gives people a sense of belonging: 'be calm' is about mental well-being and gives meaning: 'be safe' it's about physical well-being and gives us a sense of purpose.... I believe we need hope, too," she [Bonnie] said.
Now is our time to be kind, to be calm, and to be safe. It's not forever ...but it is for now.
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Late in 2019 there were rumours of an "atypical pneumonia" , meaning a respiratory infection, cause unknown, in Wuhan, China. Dr. Bonnie Henry said to her sister, "When it came to influenza and coronaviruses, China had some of the most knowledgeable scientists in the world".
I enjoyed reading this book written by Dr. Bonnie Henry and her sister Lynn about their thoughts and actions concerning what we now know as Covid-19 during the first few months of 2020. I had listened to Dr. Henry on the radio and appreciated her calming voice as she spoke about the coronavirus.
Dr. Bonnie Henry was the chair of the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health (CCMOH), made up of the senior public health doctors in each province and territory as well as nationally. Its purpose is to share, coordinate, and advocate for health promotion and protection in the country – and, when circumstances require it, to morph into the lead body providing public health advice in an emergency.
"Just like every other chief medical officer of health across the country [Canada], I had a mandate and the legal authority to speak directly to the public about issues related to health.
... it's a fine balance - to be affective in the protection of the public health and to promote that larger goal in a way that engages without alienating....You can make a point or you can make a difference."
"To paraphrase Louis Pasteur, luck favours the prepared." Dr. Henry liked to be prepared, and worked long hours each and every day, getting very little sleep.
She ended her daily press conferences with Be kind, be calm, be safe.
"For me, 'be kind' fosters emotional well-being and gives people a sense of belonging: 'be calm' is about mental well-being and gives meaning: 'be safe' it's about physical well-being and gives us a sense of purpose.... I believe we need hope, too," she [Bonnie] said.
Now is our time to be kind, to be calm, and to be safe. It's not forever ...but it is for now.
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
March 7, 2021
Don’t waste your money.
March 14, 2021
This book was terrible and disappointing. Bonnie Henry failed to do what was best for the province and continuously said “be kind.” That’s not good enough when there is a pandemic raging through the world. Then she would act shocked when the numbers increased. I am ashamed to be from BC because of her. A complete disgrace.
March 8, 2021
I'd rate this book minus 5 stars, if I could. Nothing positive about this book. I would not recommend this to anyone.
March 10, 2021
I was disappointed in this book. I thought I’d learn something about the daily life of a strong woman in science, but this is more of a sappy story between two sisters. Even the science bits came off as corny.
The prose is pedestrian and banal. Neither sister appears to be a gifted writer. And the story behind how one woman shaped a pandemic (strange choice of words, for a global phenomenon) ends up being almost as mundane as the book title. More of a slogan than anything else.
I regret buying the book on pre-order, because by the time it arrived, B.C.’s future looked bleak. Variants on the rise, but from I can tell, no effort to do anything about them. B.C. schools don’t seem to enforce masks for kids in elementary schools, or for older kids in the classroom when they’re at their desks. That was shocking to see in the news, especially this far into the pandemic.
Glad we don’t live in B.C. I would never send my kid to school under conditions like that. Seems like the main thing that was shaped in this book was Dr. Henry’s image.
The prose is pedestrian and banal. Neither sister appears to be a gifted writer. And the story behind how one woman shaped a pandemic (strange choice of words, for a global phenomenon) ends up being almost as mundane as the book title. More of a slogan than anything else.
I regret buying the book on pre-order, because by the time it arrived, B.C.’s future looked bleak. Variants on the rise, but from I can tell, no effort to do anything about them. B.C. schools don’t seem to enforce masks for kids in elementary schools, or for older kids in the classroom when they’re at their desks. That was shocking to see in the news, especially this far into the pandemic.
Glad we don’t live in B.C. I would never send my kid to school under conditions like that. Seems like the main thing that was shaped in this book was Dr. Henry’s image.
March 18, 2021
Dr. Henry taking credit for (and profiting from) a combination of dumb luck and the extreme diligence of the people she is failing to protect is beyond disgusting.
March 19, 2021
Awesome
As a healthcare worker, brought me to tears multiple times. Definitely read this book. Thank you Lynn and Bonnie Henry
As a healthcare worker, brought me to tears multiple times. Definitely read this book. Thank you Lynn and Bonnie Henry
March 20, 2021
Well written and well informed. I enjoyed seeing the decisions made personally by her.
March 22, 2021
Dr. Henry and her sister write a compelling history of the initial weeks in the response to the COVID 19 Pandemic as it affected British Columbia. Using science and her past extensive experience to guide her it is clear that Dr. Henry also led with compassion and care, exemplified by her now internationally recognized catch phrase “Be kind, be calm, be safe”. It was because of her leadership and the massive team effort throughout BC that the effects of the deadly virus were kept to lesser effect. Numerous times I was brought to strong emotion as the sisters related the inner turmoil as Dr. Henry strove to do what was right and best for the people under her care. She saved lives.
March 18, 2021
I found it really valuable and moving to read this book a year after the events it describes, and I enjoyed hearing the story told in the voices of two articulate sisters. I do not live in BC, but I woke almost every morning to hear Dr. Bonnie Henry's reassuring but concerned voice on CBC radio. I was glad to have this book give me insight into how she was thinking and feeling outside my radio.
May 24, 2021
Surprisingly bad.
I really enjoyed her other book Soap and Water and Common Sense: The Definitive Guide to Viruses, Bacteria, Parasites, and Disease, but this book felt rushed, and generally was uninteresting.
I also didn't learn much from it. I was thinking it was going to be more like the great books I read about COVID-19 like Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live or Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from the Original Epicenter.
1.8/5
I really enjoyed her other book Soap and Water and Common Sense: The Definitive Guide to Viruses, Bacteria, Parasites, and Disease, but this book felt rushed, and generally was uninteresting.
I also didn't learn much from it. I was thinking it was going to be more like the great books I read about COVID-19 like Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live or Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from the Original Epicenter.
1.8/5
July 6, 2021
I enjoyed this behind the scenes look at Bonny Henry's thoughts, ideas and difficulties at the beginning of our Covid 19 pandemic.
I have listened to Dr. Henry's updates throughout the pandemic. She remained calm and collected throughout the hardships, and her empathy and caring showed all the time.
Her story, and her sister's, show the behind the scene stamina that allowed Dr. Bonny to stand strong for us all over this difficult time. We are lucky to have her caring and empathy in charge, keeping us kind, calm and safe.
I have listened to Dr. Henry's updates throughout the pandemic. She remained calm and collected throughout the hardships, and her empathy and caring showed all the time.
Her story, and her sister's, show the behind the scene stamina that allowed Dr. Bonny to stand strong for us all over this difficult time. We are lucky to have her caring and empathy in charge, keeping us kind, calm and safe.
March 20, 2021
An excellent history of modern pandemics and our methods for coping with them. Dr Henry’s calm, assured voice clearly lays out what happened during the first portion of our pandemic and our responses to it. Her sister’s descriptions of Dr Bonnie added another layer of humanity which I really enjoyed.
March 22, 2021
Splendid blending of science and soul and an invaluable record of an extraordinary time.
July 22, 2022
Thanks to both for sharing your version of events.
I found it hard to read personally. Halfway through I realized that reliving those days was not something I wanted to do. So the 3 stars is because of that. Not the quality of the writing. Maybe I should have put a little more distance between 2020 and reading this.
Dr Henry, how can we ever thank you for your tireless work (and of your teams of course)? Your gentle presence every day meant so much to so many people. It really could have been so much worse.
You are a legend!
I found it hard to read personally. Halfway through I realized that reliving those days was not something I wanted to do. So the 3 stars is because of that. Not the quality of the writing. Maybe I should have put a little more distance between 2020 and reading this.
Dr Henry, how can we ever thank you for your tireless work (and of your teams of course)? Your gentle presence every day meant so much to so many people. It really could have been so much worse.
You are a legend!
May 6, 2021
Well written, although I preferred the sections written by Bonnie Henry herself, because she very eloquently outlines the justifications for the decisions that were made as the pandemic unfolded in BC.
My one criticism of this book is the timing of its release - it felt strange to read this newly released book in the midst of BC’s third wave and the establishment of further covid restrictions. Maybe pushing back the release date would have allowed for some appropriate time and distance.
My one criticism of this book is the timing of its release - it felt strange to read this newly released book in the midst of BC’s third wave and the establishment of further covid restrictions. Maybe pushing back the release date would have allowed for some appropriate time and distance.
May 4, 2021
They work really hard and drinks lots of wine.
March 16, 2021
Readers should manage their expectations going into this one. If you're looking for something that goes into the science of COVID-19, look elsewhere. Instead, this is more akin to a diary of the Province's Health Officer with observations of the PHO's sister that captures the rationale of the PHO's decisions from January 2020 and early April 2020. You come away with an understanding of how the PHO's experiences with SARS and Ebola have shaped her thinking—how inequity, stigma and shame must be balanced with the "obvious" decisions. While it is not particularly critical, the PHO's sister occassionally points out various faults of her sister, whether it's inviting family over or sitting in a busy restaurant. Additionally, the PHO also notes when incidents caught her by surprise.
Overall, it is an easy, quick read that allows readers to peek into the PHO's thinking. Readers likely won't agree with every justification she has in the book—some may disagree with all of it—but it is an ostensibly honest look at her thought process. I would have appreciated more science, but for what it is, I recommend it.
Overall, it is an easy, quick read that allows readers to peek into the PHO's thinking. Readers likely won't agree with every justification she has in the book—some may disagree with all of it—but it is an ostensibly honest look at her thought process. I would have appreciated more science, but for what it is, I recommend it.
April 8, 2023
BC was fortunate to have Dr. Henry as Medical Officer of Health during the pandemic.
This book was written with her sister Lynn . This is about their experiences of the months just before the pandemic was declared, and in those early weeks of March and April 2020 .
As a reader, I come with my own unique perspective as an RN working in Public Health.
I have vivid memories of what it was like being a front line worker, watching every news conference, realizing how easily Covid could and would be destructive. I also worked through H1N1 2009 . I don’t work in BC, but in another province that had its many challenges.
This book brings me back to a time when healthcare workers were seen as heroes, and people were actually kind, calm, and trying to be safe .
I appreciated her narrative and transparency. I also thought it was beneficial getting the chapters written by her sister Lynn who had a front seat to Dr Henry’s decisions .
The writing of this book was within the first year of the pandemic. I would be interested to have her write another book in a couple years looking back on the full scope of COVID-19, and how things changed in terms of public perception, and actions.
I also know how easy it will be to have another pandemic, if we don’t have strong measures and a government , and the public willing to listen to science and medical personnel.
This book was written with her sister Lynn . This is about their experiences of the months just before the pandemic was declared, and in those early weeks of March and April 2020 .
As a reader, I come with my own unique perspective as an RN working in Public Health.
I have vivid memories of what it was like being a front line worker, watching every news conference, realizing how easily Covid could and would be destructive. I also worked through H1N1 2009 . I don’t work in BC, but in another province that had its many challenges.
This book brings me back to a time when healthcare workers were seen as heroes, and people were actually kind, calm, and trying to be safe .
I appreciated her narrative and transparency. I also thought it was beneficial getting the chapters written by her sister Lynn who had a front seat to Dr Henry’s decisions .
The writing of this book was within the first year of the pandemic. I would be interested to have her write another book in a couple years looking back on the full scope of COVID-19, and how things changed in terms of public perception, and actions.
I also know how easy it will be to have another pandemic, if we don’t have strong measures and a government , and the public willing to listen to science and medical personnel.
March 22, 2021
This is a difficult book to review, because so many people are reviewing their perception of Dr. Henry's response to the pandemic. I don't have technical knowledge to review that.
I have worked at higher levels of government (as an administrator, not a politician), and so I am biased towards giving Dr. Henry some latitude. Most people don't understand the pressures of that world. Is Dr. Henry a saint? No. Has she made mistakes? Yes. Is she incompetent? I don't think so.
But I didn't come to those conclusions from the book. I arrived at them from my own understanding of public health issues and discussion with learned friends, and my own research. Which in no way makes me a COVID specialist.
So what did I get from the book?
I'm glad Dr. Henry had the physical and emotional support of family right at the beginning of the pandemic. She apparently usually lives alone and I'm glad she had some time with family, even if through small windows of time.
I also deal with PTSD and relate to her response, and am envious of the support she's had to live with PTSD and continue her profession. Not in the same boat that way. She offers a unique and valuable perspective by sharing that. I hope employers listen.
This was a snapshot of a moment in time, from the perspective of sisters. Due to Dr. Henry's role, Lynn had a close view of this, but there are other equally valid perspectives that would be great to have in book form - front line workers, caregivers, lower-level government staff, community social workers. But that's okay - that's not the view of this particular book.
In terms of the book itself, I found the flipping between perspectives rather repetitive. Often Lynn would simply reiterate the experiences of her sister using her own voice. Didn't really get a different opinion regarding the issues. They don't have (or reveal) ideological/philosophical disputes. And I think you need some distance from the events to go there.
I was perturbed by a few things:
Dr. Henry telling her sister "this is confidential" and giving her information. I can't criticize it because I think everyone in this type of scenario has to find a trusted friend to confide in. Still queasy.
I can't find the reference right now, but it seems Dr. Henry and her sister were able to reunite during the pandemic after Lynn returned home. My daughter and I haven't even broached travelling between our residences because of COVID. Maybe I read the directives wrong, but I am jealous and want to say there is some exercise of privilege here.
Overall, very interesting to hear this perspective but it may be more useful when things really settle. Dr. Henry seems to have an open mind and will likely have a different perspective at the end of this. Her mantra has guided my own response.
To the critics with the one-star and one-book reviews - it's not about having the best numbers. I think it's about having a robust society when you come out the other side, whatever that looks like.
I have worked at higher levels of government (as an administrator, not a politician), and so I am biased towards giving Dr. Henry some latitude. Most people don't understand the pressures of that world. Is Dr. Henry a saint? No. Has she made mistakes? Yes. Is she incompetent? I don't think so.
But I didn't come to those conclusions from the book. I arrived at them from my own understanding of public health issues and discussion with learned friends, and my own research. Which in no way makes me a COVID specialist.
So what did I get from the book?
I'm glad Dr. Henry had the physical and emotional support of family right at the beginning of the pandemic. She apparently usually lives alone and I'm glad she had some time with family, even if through small windows of time.
I also deal with PTSD and relate to her response, and am envious of the support she's had to live with PTSD and continue her profession. Not in the same boat that way. She offers a unique and valuable perspective by sharing that. I hope employers listen.
This was a snapshot of a moment in time, from the perspective of sisters. Due to Dr. Henry's role, Lynn had a close view of this, but there are other equally valid perspectives that would be great to have in book form - front line workers, caregivers, lower-level government staff, community social workers. But that's okay - that's not the view of this particular book.
In terms of the book itself, I found the flipping between perspectives rather repetitive. Often Lynn would simply reiterate the experiences of her sister using her own voice. Didn't really get a different opinion regarding the issues. They don't have (or reveal) ideological/philosophical disputes. And I think you need some distance from the events to go there.
I was perturbed by a few things:
Dr. Henry telling her sister "this is confidential" and giving her information. I can't criticize it because I think everyone in this type of scenario has to find a trusted friend to confide in. Still queasy.
I can't find the reference right now, but it seems Dr. Henry and her sister were able to reunite during the pandemic after Lynn returned home. My daughter and I haven't even broached travelling between our residences because of COVID. Maybe I read the directives wrong, but I am jealous and want to say there is some exercise of privilege here.
Overall, very interesting to hear this perspective but it may be more useful when things really settle. Dr. Henry seems to have an open mind and will likely have a different perspective at the end of this. Her mantra has guided my own response.
To the critics with the one-star and one-book reviews - it's not about having the best numbers. I think it's about having a robust society when you come out the other side, whatever that looks like.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2022
I borrowed this from the local library and finished it in two days. I now wish she'd write a follow up to the pandemic including vaccines and masking in pandemic year two 2021. The book was well written and I particularly liked to read about the time line of when the cases first came to Canada.
I knew quite alot about it as I'd listened to her daily updates in BC throughout 2020. She's a wonderful human and an educated professional who got us through a very bad time with way less tragedy than Italy and New York. That's my take away. And our world learned alot to help us do even better in the next pandemic. Because, sorry to say, there will be one.
I knew quite alot about it as I'd listened to her daily updates in BC throughout 2020. She's a wonderful human and an educated professional who got us through a very bad time with way less tragedy than Italy and New York. That's my take away. And our world learned alot to help us do even better in the next pandemic. Because, sorry to say, there will be one.
April 28, 2021
This was too much of a throwback for me, right now. Maybe in two years I would enjoy it more.
April 30, 2021
Still in the middle of the pandemic, in BC, it is hard to separate out this book, this March-April 2020 timeframe, with the current April 2021 context and thoughts and feelings. What is a review on the book versus what is a review on feeling upset about being in Wave 4? I’ll try my best to separate out this book, and then I’ll kind of blur it all together with some thoughts at the end. My rating is based on strictly the book (probably 3.5 stars, rounded up).
Strictly the book:
I was interested to hear Dr Bonnie Henry’s insights into herself and her decision making process. On whether or not the position was political, Dr Henry explained that she had full support from the Minister and Premier before making any large decisions on restrictions. She worked hard to stay aligned. She also stated that there was prior advice from her mentor, with the line, “would you like to make a point, or to make a difference” and described having solutions to problems in her back pocket ready to go if the political appetite was there and the question was asked. I wish we could dig deeper into this and hear about the push and pull behind the scenes with different political players. Any compromises? Any process of consideration to keep some restrictions with harsher economic impacts off the table in order to get more political by-in for Federal advocacy on the long and unsuccessful road battling the overdose crisis? The book doesn’t say.
In this regard, the book is certainly not a tell-all. There is one moment where Dr Henry speaks about a slightly tense interaction with staff who disagreed with her approach, but for the most part the book is very safe. The amount of new information on the pandemic is low if you watched enough of the press briefings. My favourite biographies have always been the ones that are the most honest and vulnerable and while there’s vulnerability in publishing a book based on the position she has, there’s not much vulnerability on the pages. I get the sense Dr Bonnie Henry has a full suit of mental armour on right now - understandable given the circumstances, but it doesn’t lend itself to be as interesting.
I will say that some of Lynne Henry’s observations on her sister were definitely a sister perspective and made me smile - I imagine my sister and I would have a similar dynamic. Lynne Henry is kind, and obviously proud of her sister but you can tell she isn’t without questioning. Such as the near criticism of Dr Henry’s continued insistence that the family from out East still come to the Island for Easter break. Lynne Henry said something like she tried to grill her sister on this and got the answer “there’s facts and then there’s emotion” or something of the sort.
Blurring together the book and currently living in the same pandemic:
So the pandemic fatigue is here for sure and I listened to this audio book in spring, 2021. The new restrictions right now are fairly harsh, likely came too late, and the variants of concern are now at least 75% of cases. On the other side, all of my older family members (parents and parent in-laws) have been vaccinated so I am very relieved at that. I have been fortunate in that my suffering has only been social. I have not been impacted by job losses or deaths within my circle. Even with that background, this book was a much more triggering listen than I was expecting. A seemingly innocuous part of the book about monitoring overseas information on the virus in February somehow triggered a little sobbing session. Being brought back to that time of the edge of normal and pandemic living caused an outpouring of grief at the normalcy that was lost. I am not sure if it would impact other readers in the same way, but listening to a book about the pandemic, in a pandemic was maybe a little much for me at times. I’ll be interested to see how this book holds and resonates in another couple of years with further perspective and distance.
I was amused when Dr Henry stated that she erred on the side of optimism and minimized risks and tried to balance that with asking others for their perspective. After striking the right balance in BC through Spring, 2020 I wonder if this bias combined with more confidence in her approach based on previous success led to the fall restrictions coming into place very late.
I am glad I read this book at a time when the public opinion for Dr Henry is lower than when it was written. It reminded me of how lucky we were for her experience and judgement in the Spring of last year. There was background of the preplanning and thoughtfulness behind the press briefings aiming to have a consistent voice and working to be as transparent as possible with the public. She was such a skilled communicator. This is in contrast to those who look back and now say that we were just lucky in Spring 2020. Sure, there may have been some luck at play, but there was also a whole lot that happened as the result of good decision making and hard work. It’s easy to forget how monumental the task was of protecting long term care by completely changing the system for staffing at all sites. Who knows how many lives this saved.
I was frustrated listening to parts of the book where Dr. Bonnie Henry explained that she believed the public could handle more than officials sometimes gave them credit for. I believe that the early sharing of the modelling matched this principle of transparency, and was on the leading edge for Canada with other Provinces following suit after. I am glad that Dr Henry pushed for the transparency and speaking to modelling in Spring, 2020 but the transparency now seems to lag behind other jurisdictions with criticism of the data transparency coming from public, media and even epidemiologists based in the States. I wish the same principles that caused her to trust the public and share modelling in Spring 2020 applied to us now.
My current analogy to the approach to the pandemic in BC is like parenting. I believe that parents may not be the best parent for every age or stage of life. Parents may thrive with their skills and approach with babies, or toddlers, or teenagers but may have difficulty in other stages. In this regard, I think that Dr Henry was the perfect parent for BC when we were in our toddler stage of the pandemic. We were all afraid, knew very little, and Dr Henry built us up to be braver, to go outside, to take walks and continue to function and answered our questions and provided us with the knowledge to make the right decisions. Now, we are in the teenager stage of the pandemic. We know a lot more, we are no longer afraid and we are collectively breaking the rules - mostly without consequence. We also are using the knowledge we got from early communication to be frustrated along the way at inconsistencies. "But you said outside was safe! What does the data say about outdoor transmission? What are the current numbers? Why are you taking patio visits away from us?" The same calm assurance that worked for us in the spring in our toddler stage is no longer working. Positive reinforcement is no longer enough, and the board books on offer no longer match our knowledge level. It’s time for the information and data on offer to step up, to provide us with more understanding based on the stage we are at both as a public and in the pandemic.
I really hope that Dr Henry has kept a journal and will write again about the entirety of the pandemic with further insights based on distance and time from the day-to-day slog. Hopefully by then she will be retired from her post and can write with more frankness and honesty than was currently possible given her position and need to maintain a positive working relationship with colleagues and political players.
Strictly the book:
I was interested to hear Dr Bonnie Henry’s insights into herself and her decision making process. On whether or not the position was political, Dr Henry explained that she had full support from the Minister and Premier before making any large decisions on restrictions. She worked hard to stay aligned. She also stated that there was prior advice from her mentor, with the line, “would you like to make a point, or to make a difference” and described having solutions to problems in her back pocket ready to go if the political appetite was there and the question was asked. I wish we could dig deeper into this and hear about the push and pull behind the scenes with different political players. Any compromises? Any process of consideration to keep some restrictions with harsher economic impacts off the table in order to get more political by-in for Federal advocacy on the long and unsuccessful road battling the overdose crisis? The book doesn’t say.
In this regard, the book is certainly not a tell-all. There is one moment where Dr Henry speaks about a slightly tense interaction with staff who disagreed with her approach, but for the most part the book is very safe. The amount of new information on the pandemic is low if you watched enough of the press briefings. My favourite biographies have always been the ones that are the most honest and vulnerable and while there’s vulnerability in publishing a book based on the position she has, there’s not much vulnerability on the pages. I get the sense Dr Bonnie Henry has a full suit of mental armour on right now - understandable given the circumstances, but it doesn’t lend itself to be as interesting.
I will say that some of Lynne Henry’s observations on her sister were definitely a sister perspective and made me smile - I imagine my sister and I would have a similar dynamic. Lynne Henry is kind, and obviously proud of her sister but you can tell she isn’t without questioning. Such as the near criticism of Dr Henry’s continued insistence that the family from out East still come to the Island for Easter break. Lynne Henry said something like she tried to grill her sister on this and got the answer “there’s facts and then there’s emotion” or something of the sort.
Blurring together the book and currently living in the same pandemic:
So the pandemic fatigue is here for sure and I listened to this audio book in spring, 2021. The new restrictions right now are fairly harsh, likely came too late, and the variants of concern are now at least 75% of cases. On the other side, all of my older family members (parents and parent in-laws) have been vaccinated so I am very relieved at that. I have been fortunate in that my suffering has only been social. I have not been impacted by job losses or deaths within my circle. Even with that background, this book was a much more triggering listen than I was expecting. A seemingly innocuous part of the book about monitoring overseas information on the virus in February somehow triggered a little sobbing session. Being brought back to that time of the edge of normal and pandemic living caused an outpouring of grief at the normalcy that was lost. I am not sure if it would impact other readers in the same way, but listening to a book about the pandemic, in a pandemic was maybe a little much for me at times. I’ll be interested to see how this book holds and resonates in another couple of years with further perspective and distance.
I was amused when Dr Henry stated that she erred on the side of optimism and minimized risks and tried to balance that with asking others for their perspective. After striking the right balance in BC through Spring, 2020 I wonder if this bias combined with more confidence in her approach based on previous success led to the fall restrictions coming into place very late.
I am glad I read this book at a time when the public opinion for Dr Henry is lower than when it was written. It reminded me of how lucky we were for her experience and judgement in the Spring of last year. There was background of the preplanning and thoughtfulness behind the press briefings aiming to have a consistent voice and working to be as transparent as possible with the public. She was such a skilled communicator. This is in contrast to those who look back and now say that we were just lucky in Spring 2020. Sure, there may have been some luck at play, but there was also a whole lot that happened as the result of good decision making and hard work. It’s easy to forget how monumental the task was of protecting long term care by completely changing the system for staffing at all sites. Who knows how many lives this saved.
I was frustrated listening to parts of the book where Dr. Bonnie Henry explained that she believed the public could handle more than officials sometimes gave them credit for. I believe that the early sharing of the modelling matched this principle of transparency, and was on the leading edge for Canada with other Provinces following suit after. I am glad that Dr Henry pushed for the transparency and speaking to modelling in Spring, 2020 but the transparency now seems to lag behind other jurisdictions with criticism of the data transparency coming from public, media and even epidemiologists based in the States. I wish the same principles that caused her to trust the public and share modelling in Spring 2020 applied to us now.
My current analogy to the approach to the pandemic in BC is like parenting. I believe that parents may not be the best parent for every age or stage of life. Parents may thrive with their skills and approach with babies, or toddlers, or teenagers but may have difficulty in other stages. In this regard, I think that Dr Henry was the perfect parent for BC when we were in our toddler stage of the pandemic. We were all afraid, knew very little, and Dr Henry built us up to be braver, to go outside, to take walks and continue to function and answered our questions and provided us with the knowledge to make the right decisions. Now, we are in the teenager stage of the pandemic. We know a lot more, we are no longer afraid and we are collectively breaking the rules - mostly without consequence. We also are using the knowledge we got from early communication to be frustrated along the way at inconsistencies. "But you said outside was safe! What does the data say about outdoor transmission? What are the current numbers? Why are you taking patio visits away from us?" The same calm assurance that worked for us in the spring in our toddler stage is no longer working. Positive reinforcement is no longer enough, and the board books on offer no longer match our knowledge level. It’s time for the information and data on offer to step up, to provide us with more understanding based on the stage we are at both as a public and in the pandemic.
I really hope that Dr Henry has kept a journal and will write again about the entirety of the pandemic with further insights based on distance and time from the day-to-day slog. Hopefully by then she will be retired from her post and can write with more frankness and honesty than was currently possible given her position and need to maintain a positive working relationship with colleagues and political players.
September 8, 2021
Interesting perspective on the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic response from a public health decision maker. Public safety, while recognizing the cost of the restrictions. The book helped me appreciate the personal toll of decision making on the lives of those imposing the restrictions.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews