University of Calgary professor Mark Ungrin has dedicated years of research highlighting what he believes is of significant concern to all Canadians’ health. He says health policy and the federal government’s response to Covid was based on outdated information, and even today that same policy remains in place. “Unfortunately, when Covid hit, there was very little attention paid to aerosol transmission as a means of Covid infecting from one person to another,” Ungrin said. “Warnings were provided by scientists, engineers, occupational health and safety experts, many people within the medical profession, but infection control leaders really based their decisions on some fairly outdated understandings of aerosol biology and disease transmission via aerosols, and as a result, they basically assumed that it was not possible for Covid to be airborne.” “And this, obviously, now we can see turned out to be a mistake,” he added. “This error of assuming that Covid couldn’t be airborne was based on the idea that aerosols just fall to the ground within three feet. And that’s not a new piece of information. It was highlighted in the report of the SARS Commission in 2006 as illogical, even at that point,” he continued. Need for policy changes Ungrin is an interdisciplinary professor and researcher, with a significant amount of his work taking place in the field of biomedical engineering. Beyond the SARS Commission in 2006, he also pointed to other work highlighting the need for policy changes, like the UK Covid inquiry. “The UK COVID inquiry recently identified it as a widespread failure, saying that both the ideas and the policies based on them were, and are, wrong, and should not be used in health care. As a result, we wound up trying to stop an airborne disease with hand washing, and that’s obviously not going to be very effective,” Ungrin said. Dr. David Keegan, a family medicine professor at the U of C who is also the Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Preventive Health Services this June, and he gave his personal views on the issue. His views are not on behalf of the committee, nor on behalf of the public Health Agency of Canada. “Doctor Ungrin raises some very important issues, and they really come down to two main things. Number one is research integrity, and number two is what should be the foundation upon which we’re making public health decisions,” Keegan said. “When we’re doing research studies about something like that (Covid and masking), that can infect and disable millions upon millions of people, we have to make sure that the research that’s conducted to help us figure out how to navigate it is done in a way that is true, that we can actually rely upon it,” Keegan continued. Keegan says “sometimes there are very potentially serious issues in research design,” and should that research be used to inform policy and health decisions, the consequences could be enormous. Because of this, he points to the already existing framework of the precautionary principle, which he believes must be taken into account for any health-related matters. “The government’s actions to protect the environment and health are guided by the precautionary principle, which states that ‘where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation,’” the government’s website reads. Ebola risks? Ungrin isn’t raising this issue just to focus on past decisions; he says this outdated policy could create significant risks down the road. “This is of more than just academic interest, because really, not only did they define the infection control policies that allowed Covid to spread unchecked, they’re still largely the ideas on which infection control policies are based today. And the same gamble that Covid couldn’t possibly be airborne is now being made with Ebola,” Ungrin said. “That’s not to say that Ebola is certainly airborne or is guaranteed to become airborne, but certainly it’s a gamble we can’t afford to take until we have that proof that absolutely, for sure, Ebola can’t be airborne,” Ungrin continued. Keegan also sees the risk that Ungrin has identified, saying “we need to learn from our past” and identify how the current health approach can change if needed. “When we’re faced with new and evolving public health threats, we need to take the precautionary principle. I think that would be a good thing to articulate out loud and that, yes, we should across the country, all of our public health policies and approaches and plans, should all be anchored in the precautionary principle,” Keegain said. “What’s to lose? A little bit extra cost for a mask, versus potentially continued massive spread to many more people, lives lost, people’s lives torn apart, the people who survive potentially with long term serious disease, massive health care costs,” Keegan continued. Long Covid consequences This topic isn’t just about policy change and government, it’s a topic that hits close to home for many who continue to feel the impacts of long covid today. Kerri Bowser used to love hiking and was quite an active person, but everything changed when she contracted long Covid in January, 2023. “It is a loss of my identity. Aside from myself, the biggest loss is the mother that I wanted to be. I’ve got a little girl. She’s six. She doesn’t remember a mom that isn’t sick. And I really, really wish I could just play with her like I imagined I could,” Bowser said. These days, Bowser says everything in her life has to be meticulously planned and scheduled, as she only has around six to eight hours a day where she can think without brain fog. “I have to plan when I do a flight of stairs in my one-story house. Everything is just so controlled, there’s no spontaneity anymore. Everything has to be planned. I have to know how many steps I am away from a store if I can go shopping at all, which is hardly ever,” Bowser said. What would policy change mean for Bowser? While it can’t change what happened to her, she hopes the government listens to the issues Ungrin is raising, on top of people like her who have had their lives permanently changed due to how the Canadian Government approached covid. “We could protect our kids from getting a permanent disability, and that is a huge impact for people individually and society as a whole,” Bowser said. Government Response In a statement, the Public Health Agency of Canada says the Government of Canada “continues to work to ensure that Canada is prepared for, and able to effectively respond to, future public health emergencies.” “This work includes the development of the new Canada’s Pandemic Preparedness Plan (CPPP), which is centered on respiratory pathogens with pandemic potential. PHAC released the Core Content of CPPP on May 19, 2026,” said Mark Johnson, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada. “The Government of Canada has updated the Heath Portfolio Emergency Response Plan, a scalable, all hazard emergency response plan used to coordinate PHAC and Health Canada’s delivery of support to provinces, territories, other federal departments, and international partners during a health emergency,” Johnson’s statement continued. On top of that, Johnson’s statement added several reviews of Canada’s response has taken place to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities to strengthen preparedness and response for future health emergencies.
