October 30, 2021 — The Globe and Mail

Quebec long-term care inquest to explore what role government policies played in crisis

Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Health Policy Research at the National Institute on Ageing, said in an interview that the initial response to COVID-19 didn’t follow the precautionary principle of applying maximum precautions then easing off as the disease became better understood.

Instead, fearing they would run out of personal protective equipment, officials did the reverse, rationing masks and starting with limited precautions, then adjusting upward – at a cost of human lives.