CW: cancer, surgery, medical negligence, denial of care, disability grief

As part of DoNoHarm BC’s #Postcards4PublicHealth campaign, we’ve invited British Columbians to share their stories about the lack of Covid safety in BC – particularly the loss of mask protections in healthcare. Many wrote directly to policy makers. Some generously gave us permission to share their stories with the public and the press.

Below, you can find their statements. (Some stories have been condensed for length.) All have granted permission for their words and chosen names to be used publicly in this campaign, including being quoted by the media.

For further quotes, please read our fact sheet and our press release.

* = available for further remote interviews upon request. Please note some individuals can only participate in written (email) interviews due to their access needs.

Hannah Siden (she/her) *

Until masking is restored I, like many other high risk patients, can’t access medical care safely. I have an upcoming surgery here in Vancouver. My underlying condition worsened in the wake of multiple viral infections, resulting in the need for this surgery. I shouldn’t have to worry whether I’ll be given another virus and more health damage while I’m at the hospital.

R. (they/them) on masks in healthcare

After a Covid infection in May 2022, I developed Long Covid and other health issues that left me permanently disabled. Before that I was working in my dream career of film/TV. I was the healthiest I’ve ever been.

I lost it all – my work, my hobbies, my quality of life. I depend on a wheelchair to get around, but spend most days lying down as that’s all my body can handle. The sun makes me ill. Inflammation in my brain caused me to lose memories I held close to my heart.

It’s one thing to remove masks in public; it’s another to remove them in what were the last safe spaces for people to access life-sustaining care. Now going to the hospital risks further disablement and death.

R. (they/them) on Paxlovid access

I got “mild to moderate” Covid in May 2022. I couldn’t reach my doctor, and had to call a 1-800 number and wait for a “provincial physician” to call me back. The next day he called and I said I wanted Paxlovid. I was very sick and had asthma. A couple people in my family had gotten Long Covid, and I knew Paxlovid could potentially reduce the chances of getting it.

The physician told me I didn’t meet the qualifications and since I was “young and healthy,” I wouldn’t get Long Covid and not to worry about it.

A week later I went to the hospital in an ambulance. 4 weeks later I was diagnosed with Long Covid. A year later I am permanently disabled. I’m retired at 28.

Paxlovid could have prevented it. I could have had a second chance. I could still be working, I could be able to walk… I could be able to pay my bills and afford food.

But I don’t. Because the province decided arbitrarily that I wasn’t worth a dose.

Carol Brown

I’m a 76-year-old retired nurse who worked in Surgery and Oncology. I recently had my fourth MRI to check my two brain tumours. The MRI tech threatened that if I wouldn’t remove my mask, he wouldn’t do my MRI – even though I’ve always worn this type of mask for MRIs before. He said “it’s safe because we wipe down the counter between each patient.” I responded that since Covid is airborne, I was more concerned about what I was breathing.

I don’t appreciate being bullied by health care workers who should have been educated by this stage in the pandemic that the risk is in the air. I blame PHO Bonnie Henry, Minister Dix and Premier Eby for not instituting measures to protect the citizens of BC.

Anonymous

I didn’t survive nearly dying, only to get Covid at my weekly hospital treatments where nobody is wearing masks anymore – at a cancer clinic! I shouldn’t have to risk my life to stay alive, especially when masking is so simple.

Kayli (she/her) *

I am a 24 year old in the Lower Mainland that developed Long Covid after one infection in Dec 2021. I used to be in grad school, have 2 jobs, and an extremely active lifestyle. Now I can barely leave the house. There’s no public health warning or communication for Long Covid in this province. I feel abandoned by our govt, and have to navigate extremely unsafe maskless settings when I do have capacity to leave the house, like transit and clinics. Please bring back the bare minimum of masks in healthcare!

Red (he/him)

My name is Red, and I live with multiple chronic illnesses. I’m housebound and leave only for medical appointments. Because of medical staff not wearing respirators, few other people masking at all, and lack of quality air filtration, I’m at higher risk of catching airborne viruses.

I caught Covid for the first time at LifeLabs. It caused many worsened and new symptoms, and I no longer feel safe accessing necessary bloodwork. Disabled people like me rely on healthcare workers keeping us safe, not spreading damaging illnesses that disproportionately harm vulnerable communities.

Danielle Gauld (she/her) *

I am disabled by chronic health conditions, and going through an acute health crisis that involves difficulty breathing. Post-mask-mandate health care has become unsafe for me, but I have no choice but to access it anyways.

No one should have to risk easily-avoidable, predictable harm for necessary care. As someone who works in health care myself, I’m heartbroken and enraged at this betrayal of medical ethics. Navigating this while acutely sick has added intense stress and changed my baseline levels of disability – it may have cost my ability to work for a very long time if not permanently.

COVID infection, which has now essentially become unavoidable, will likely worsen this even further. Rates of Long COVID continue to be staggering, and there are few supports and still no treatments. There is absolutely no sound scientific justification for removing mask mandates, and doing so has only deepened the devastation the ongoing pandemic is inflicting on vulnerable people.

Sora

I am a 46-year old healthcare worker and was diagnosed with cancer in October 2021.

While I was in treatment, my family and I did everything we could to protect me from Covid. I knew that I was at high risk of severe disease or death from Covid, and because of the extensive precautions we’d been taking, the hospital was where I was at greatest risk of exposure. I knew that the death rate for hospital acquired Covid is around 10% — not a risk I wanted to take, but my cancer surgery was not optional. Given the dire outcomes for patients who catch Covid in the hospital, I find it difficult to express the depth of betrayal that I would have felt if masks had not still been universally required in BC healthcare at the time of my surgery.

I am recovered and back at work now. I always wear an N95 in the hospital because I refuse to be complicit in putting patients at risk.

Jay (he/him)

I needed major surgery at BC Women’s after masking was dropped in hospital. I’m disabled with ME, fibromyalgia, and a weakened immune system from previous Covid infections. It caused unnecessary stress to have to worry about catching COVID out of surgery. Staff made comments on my choice to mask, and were unmasked in my hospital room despite knowing my medical vulnerability.

As a result, I had no option but to remain masked, and became dehydrated and weak from times I couldn’t safely remove my mask to eat or drink. I’ve put off healthcare many times because of the lack of respirators and quality air filtration, especially after my loved ones got Covid during medical appointments. It’s dehumanizing to know I’m purposefully made less safe getting healthcare in BC.

Stephanie (she/her)

I know what it can mean to get a “mild” airborne illness. I got one in elementary school. It ran through my class like wildfire. I was a completely healthy kid, but 25 years later, I still have a post-viral illness that leaves me housebound. I’m in pain every minute of every day.

We know that around 1 in 6 children develop Long Covid after infection. We also know that simple tools can prevent infection.

We need mask protections and clean air indoors, particularly in high-risk settings like healthcare and schools, to prevent unnecessary illnesses and health damage.

Concerned Parent

Our daughter has a neurological disease- we don’t know how Covid might affect her if she gets it. It deeply saddens me that we are the only ones wearing proper masks when we go to BC Children’s for specialist appointments. Our innocent kids need us to protect them. Please bring back masks!

Veronique West, Accessibility Assistant at the SFU Disability & Neurodiversity Alliance (she/they)

I work as a staff member at the SFU Disability & Neurodiversity Alliance, a student-led network of community members who identify as disabled, autistic, neurodivergent, Deaf, mad and/or as having a disability, chronic illness, long-term condition, or mental illness. I consulted with two of DNA’s student leaders (the Public Relations Organizers), and we decided to amplify the Postcards for Public Health Campaign, because the lack of masks in healthcare directly impacts our community. The question of whether healthcare workers should wear masks is not a matter of free will – it’s a matter of community accountability. Immunocompromised people and many others are directly harmed by the choice to not wear masks – we’ve witnessed this amongst our membership. We urge policy makers to take immediate action and bring required masks back to healthcare settings.

K.

I have multiple rare chronic illnesses that make me immunodeficient, but I’m not eligible for Paxlovid in BC and struggled to access the spring booster. I’ve been forced to “shield” since June 2021 when public masking was discarded. Removal of even surgical masks in medical settings has made what outings I make even more dangerous. We need increased Paxlovid access, respirator masks in healthcare to protect both patients and healthcare workers, and clean air everywhere.

Anonymous *

After breaking his ankle in hospital, my father-in-law then narrowly escaped a COVID outbreak in the UBC Hospital ward where he stayed for several weeks during his recovery. The outbreak was apparently declared a few weeks after he was discharged. At the time, early in 2021, I naively assumed that the air quality on the ward was adequate. It obviously was not! It is deeply wrong for hospitals to fail to take basic precautions. Patients should not be exposed to COVID in the course of accessing care for other conditions.

SMK

I have two disabled daughters. As a parent it’s my job to protect them, but I can’t do it alone. They need ongoing medical care, and without two-way mask protections, they’re at unnecessary risk from infectious diseases that would severely worsen their health. I’m also at greater risk of illness that would leave me unable to care for them. Near the beginning of the pandemic I caught a virus that caused long-term symptoms. Should my health worsen further, my family would be in an impossible position. Please restore mask protections to healthcare settings.

Anonymous

A dear friend is in Royal Jubilee Hospital following a stroke. Except for myself, none of the staff or visitors are wearing masks in her unit. We know Covid-19 is an airborne virus, that it can be transmitted asymptomatically, and that it can cause direct, indirect and long-term effects. We know that N95 respirators reduce the transmission of this and other viruses. It’s 2023. We know more now than we did in 2020. We should not be relying on outdated science and lax advisories to manage care. It should be a priority to protect all patients and staff. Masks should be the required standard in all healthcare settings going forward.

Sara (she/her)

My mum has pulmonary fibrosis. We fear she’ll catch Covid at one of her many doctor’s appointments. Please bring back masks in health care to keep her safe!

Dr Brink (they/them) *

Respirators must be back in healthcare to reduce the discrimination of access for patients who need medical care. Respirators also protect the healthcare workers, and we desperately need this due to the immense strain the entire system is under.

Anonymous

My friend (who is only in her forties) has serious health issues. She recently had a 7-week stay in hospital. None of the staff masked. Please bring masks back to protect the vulnerable – they deserve our kindness.

Sandy (she/her)

My entire family is medically vulnerable. I want safer healthcare settings, starting with restoring universal masking – not just for patients like us, but to protect healthcare workers, who we depend on for guidance and care. We can’t afford to risk unnecessary exposures in healthcare, and we can’t afford to lose doctors, nurses, specialists, researchers – either to acute illness, or to Long Covid, brain fog and other post-viral health damage.

Amy M

I caught covid AT WORK because of lies told by BC PHO and our government. They’ve taught my cancer ridden mother how to be a covidiot.

This needs to stop. BC needs TRUTH and education.

Anonymous

Keeping my family safe during this pandemic has been exhausting. At the very least, please bring back masks in healthcare so we can access the care we need without increased risk of catching Covid.

M.

We need respirator masks to be standard in high-risk settings like healthcare, and we need clean air in all indoor settings. This should be the new, more inclusive, and sustainable normal – instead of this fake “normal” that leads to constant closures, last-minute cancellations, labour shortages, inhaling wildfire smoke and viruses, and a healthcare system in crisis.

T Lee (she/her)

People going to hospitals for help should not have to risk getting SARS2. Studies show that you have a higher risk of death if you contract Covid while in hospital. Doing nothing to mitigate a virus that causes so much harm is morally wrong. Bring back masks in healthcare settings.

Clean air in schools wouldn’t hurt either!

Rimona Law (they/them) *

I’m US-based, in Portland, OR, but I know that Covid is an ongoing pandemic that has no borders and everything that happens in BC impacts us here, too — and the decisions of major governments set the standard for public health and safety practices across the globe! We need masks back in healthcare because we shouldn’t have to weigh a Covid infection with basic healthcare — whether it’s preventative or life-dependent. Masks should be the new normal in healthcare. We should never have been getting sick from visiting the doctor, and 3+ years into an ongoing, airborne Covid pandemic, we cannot afford repeat infections — the stakes are just too high, especially for the disabled, queer, trans, immigrant, Black, Brown, Indigenous, elder, youth, and multi-marginalized members of our community. Every life is worth protecting and fighting for, which is why we need layers of protection (starting with masks!) when accessing our healthcare.