Heated Emails over COVID Testing by Local Health Officials
WINDSOR — No regrets from the top two health officials in Windsor-Essex following the release of heated email exchanges in regards to testing in long-term care and retirement homes.
The 65 pages worth of e-mails dating back to early April were obtained by the Windsor Star through a Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
In the emails, Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj begs Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed to start testing residents in seniors' homes sooner rather than later.
Speaking on AM800's the Morning Drive, Musyj says nursing homes were desperate to find out the COVID status of their residents.
"A lot of these homes do not have private rooms, they have semis or wards," says Musyj. "These homes did not know where to cohort or congregate patients because they didn't know who was positive and who was negative."
Dr. Ahmed was hesitant to allow testing without authority from the province and a possible lack of swabs.
At one point Dr. Ahmed accused Musyj of overstepping his boundaries and telling him to "back off."
Musyj says he did not overstep his boundary.
"No not at all, no way, we are saving lives. These are vulnerable people who are dying," says Musyj. " Never overstep your bounds with vulnerable people dying," he ways. "We have to do what we have to do. Standing around with our hands in our pockets and watching people die is not the result here."
As for a lack of swabs, Musyj says he was staring at them and they were available.
Speaking on AM800's the Morning Drive, Dr. Ahmed says testing is only one factor in the equation to prevent the spread of COVID pointing to proper personal protective equipment.
"If you are creating this type of misinformation that this is what is going to save lives, it comes with a cost and I'm really concerned about these types of misinformation and mis-messaging," says Dr. Ahmed.
Dr. Ahmed says he was basing his decisions on public health science.
"I am a public health physician who has went through the entire training of public health to practice public health medicine," says Dr. Ahmed. "I'm not someone who got my training in another field or speciality and ended up in public health."
Every senior and staff member at long-term care and retirement homes were eventually tested.
Musyj adds there are daily meetings and he still communicates with Dr. Ahmed.