Toronto Public Health’s vice-chair responds to backlash over Sun column about COVID-19, says her only aim was to ‘promote discourse’
Toronto Public Health’s vice-chair responds to backlash over Sun column about COVID-19, says her only aim was to ‘promote discourse’
Toronto Public Health’s vice-chair responds to backlash over Sun column about COVID-19, says her only aim was to ‘promote discourse’
Toronto Public Health’s vice-chair responds to backlash over Sun column about COVID-19, says her only aim was to ‘promote discourse’
Toronto Public Health Vice-chair Karen McNeil has been on public health’s chopping block for nearly three years.
On Friday, her column on COVID-19 in Metro newspapers was called out not just for the mistakes that it was made, but for the fact that it highlighted a lack of “respect” towards COVID-19, when McNeil said in her column that her department is currently “in the business of public health.”
The Sun’s criticism, which was published on Friday, comes at the same time that the province announced a major, sweeping $1 billion COVID-19 relief package in the form of a public health emergency fund.
Also, on Thursday, a Toronto woman who was infected with COVID-19, after travelling to Italy, was cleared for release from hospital and set to be home on Thursday and Friday with her husband — a day earlier than expected due to government restrictions.
The Sun, which is owned by Canadian Media Holdings Inc., has been under fire since last month for its coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The newspaper is also facing criticism for its decision not to publish a column by former Ontario health minister Eric Hoskins, who has since resigned after making a series of public comments expressing concerns about COVID-19 and its impact on Canadians and global economy.
“Karen’s column is simply not ‘respectful’ of the fact we are in the business of public health,” an editorial in Friday’s Metro
