Wednesday morning, the Nova Scotia government’s Twitter account released a two-minute video of premier Tim Houston and chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang. Houston’s come under a lot of criticism lately for his handling of COVID, particularly because the government dropped most public health rules and stopped giving daily updates about the disease, even though new infections are surging in the official silence. In the video, the peppy premier seems to be addressing those criticisms, but Twitter users have some notes. Here is the full video transcript, with selected annotations.
TIM HOUSTON:
Hey folks!
Is this a briefing? https://t.co/0Uggv9V07W
— Claudia Chender (@ChenderClaudia) April 6, 2022
Tim Houston, premier of Nova Scotia. I'm here with Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer for the province of Nova Scotia.
Strang looks like he's in a proof of life video.
— Alex Braden 🇺🇦 (@AJBraden) April 6, 2022
From "Stay the Blazes Home!" to "COVID is all around us--get out there!" 🤦🏻♂️ https://t.co/5hWupFBbY0
Look, let's be clear, COVID-19 is present all around us.
Every time Houston starts a sentence with “Look…” I know the meaning will be “you’re on your own” 🤬🤬 https://t.co/ZRaRPGU8jj
— Tanya Gray (@ssmgirl2012) April 6, 2022
There's lots of COVID around. And it's stubborn. It's not going anywhere, and given how contagious the current strain of this virus is, we are going to see cases rise. They're high now—they could go higher over the next little while—but eventually we'll see them start to come down.
Jesus. “They could go higher” but don’t worry we won’t report that or take the absolute bare minimum of public health measures to prevent it. https://t.co/hwi3YDpgdN
— conor (@conor_hfx) April 6, 2022
Everyone experiences different emotions
“Different emotions”? If one person uses the crosswalk & waits for the light while another runs across the street in the middle of the block, well, it’s not because they’re experiencing “different emotions.” We know what’s safe & what’s risky—listed at the end of the clip. 😷🧪💉 https://t.co/HC0U6vBCTV
— Dr. Julia M Wright #CommitCuriosity #KeepOnMasking (@JuliaMWrightDal) April 6, 2022
as we, as a society, as a country, learn to live with COVID.
In which the premier tells us that he’s less concerned about our actual safety, than how we FEEL about it. https://t.co/j6bC9dz26c
— Andrew Pickett (@andrewctenor) April 6, 2022
Some people are ready to get back out there!
Oh my God, he’s making “Get back out there” his catch-phrase. @TimHoustonNS, each and every one of the COVID deaths, cancelled surgery deaths, or cases of long Covid we suffer in NS from here on out is ON YOU.
— Sarah Sawler (@SarahSawler) April 6, 2022
What a legacy. https://t.co/m3cEmmrJs4
While others are more cautious and need more time to adjust.
Not a SINGLE WORD about masking or ventilation for an AIRBORNE ILLNESS I AM SCREAMING https://t.co/wiXX7CRO1e
— KM | the gay agender (@Zydr8Anatomy) April 6, 2022
I can't stress strongly enough the need to continue to take COVID serious.
the captions reading “the need to take covid serious” against a backdrop of extremely palpable anxiety and barely-restrained panic is actually making me laugh semi-hysterically https://t.co/f0figL7Ze6
— cait (@lovestoned) April 6, 2022
But you don't need mandates to tell you how to keep your family safe.
“You don’t need mandates to tell you how to keep your family safe” ...but because mandates have all lifted employers are forcing people back to their offices which makes people unable to keep their families safe... https://t.co/KZyxXFYzmf
— THE RIGHT HONOURABLE KATELYN DORCAS (@kdorcas) April 6, 2022
You already know how. Doctor Strang?
It's like Strang has a gun on him and is being forced to read a prepared statement. https://t.co/QToEE2XQfx
— Corey Slumkoski (@slumkoski) April 6, 2022
ROBERT STRANG:
For most young, healthy, vaccinated people COVID-19 is a relatively mild illness.
“For most people, polio is a mild disease. Therefore, the best approach to living with polio is just to be super condescending to all the scaredy cats who want their elected representatives and public health to do something about it.” #nspoli https://t.co/nA2bEGLpNe
— Jason Haslam #CommitCuriosity (@JazzlamHazzlam) April 6, 2022
But that is not the case for everyone. Sometimes people need to be hospitalized and these are often people who are older or have underlying health conditions. We need to protect them. And we know how to do that.
Not surprised by Houston - we knew there was a 'small govt' Con-man under all that 'Progressive' campaign rhetoric.
— gaw (@nova_gaw) April 6, 2022
Seriously disappointing from @StrangRobert though. Hero to zero in the blink of an eye. Pulling out the "mainly the old and sick" line at this point is disgusting. https://t.co/KfDRcQoX8V
Vaccines offer the best protection against this virus—especially against severe disease—and for most children that means two doses. For most adults, that means three.
This would be more comforting if cases were being monitored, the data was being released to the public on a regular basis, and they were willing to answer questions. https://t.co/1RCnGu7NZz
— Robert Marchand (@MarchandRobertJ) April 6, 2022
Wear a mask in large crowds and in indoor public spaces.
What I still can’t wrap my head around is I know that wearing a mask reduces transmission but I can’t control others wearing masks so why can’t we have a mask mandate? https://t.co/yuGnMUgWBM
— Jack MacLeod (he/him) (@jmacleod) April 6, 2022
Keep your social circles small and consistent.
Use rapid tests as a way to protect the people in your life at highest risk of severe outcomes. And use them anytime you have symptoms or when someone in your household test positive. And if you do test positive, you need to isolate for seven days.
Hey @TimHoustonNS and @StrangRobert, how are people suppose to isolate for 7 days when more than half of Nova Scotia workers do not have access to any paid sick leave? If you actually cared you’d legislate #10PaidSickDays now! https://t.co/3YHoJxUKQO
— Mark Cunningham (@902MarkC) April 6, 2022
And whatever you do, please do it with kindness. Don't judge.
This 'do what's best for you' rhetoric is legit dangerous since all of our health is interdependent.
— Evan Carroll (@evan_carroll_) April 6, 2022
They tell us what we 'should' do but refuse to bear any responsibility for actually taking even basic measures.
Kindness isn't a defence against a virus.
Policies > platitudes. https://t.co/MuFX76oM5A
COVID is challenging us yet again.
@TimHoustonNS at the very least mask mandates should come back. Vaccines alone will not stop covid. We need a layered approach. We are STILL in a pandemic https://t.co/eFFeZaziox
— BrynJV,RSE 'Vaxzveria SpikeVax Von Queer'🌱🌻🌈 (@EPBryn) April 6, 2022
So please keep doing what we all need to do to keep our loved ones and neighbours safe.
watch this vid and tell me its not the opening of a movie that smash cuts to a 28-days later style abandoned Halifax https://t.co/9bA9zRCEYp
— Dude LeGuy (@dude_leguy) April 6, 2022
