for more than 30 years, ian hanomansing has been a television reporter, radio and podcast host, and, since 2017, co-anchor of cbc’s flagship news show,
the national.he can now add author to his long list of bona fides. in his book,
pandemic spotlight: canadian doctors at the front of the covid-19 fight, hanomansing profiles nine infectious disease specialists from coast to coast who were thrust into the, well, spotlight to inform and calm an anxious nation about a scary new virus called covid.just as we’ve come to learn terms such as viral load, variants of concern, and herd immunity, we also now recognize the names — and trust the words — of a certain group of canadian doctors. from bogoch to chagla to hota and barrett, and others, these are the doctors who stepped away from busy practices to routinely and tirelessly stand in front of cameras, mics and video screens, advising and updating nervous canadians, and answer endless questions from the media about all things covid.
meet the nine doctors
dr. lisa barrett is an assistant professor, division of infectious diseases in the department of medicine at dalhousie university. she grew up in the small newfoundland fishing village of old perlican, where she first caught the infectious disease bug. she began studying immunology in high school, and eventually earned her medical and phd degrees at st. john’s memorial university. in speaking with the media, she’s followed the advice of her mentor, another household name, dr. anthony fauci, with whom she worked on clinical trials just a few years ago, who placed great importance on accurate public messaging.
dr. isaac bogoch’s education started at the calgary jewish academy followed by the university of calgary and the university of toronto, where he earned his medical degree. he pursued an infectious diseases fellowship through the harvard partners program, and is currently an associate professor and clinician investigator at toronto general hospital, where he has a special interest in tropical diseases and hiv. when travel rules allow for it, he spends time in africa and asia studying emerging viruses such as ebola and zika. he even pops up at the beginning of some movies, advocating for the use of masks and vaccines.
dr. zain chagla is an associate professor in the faculty of health sciences at mcmaster university who, along with his colleague,
dr. sumon chakrabarti, an infectious disease specialist at trillium health partners in mississauga, spent his extra time within the south asian community, advocating for testing and vaccine uptake for this hardest hit group.
dr. susy hota earned her degree at the university of toronto where, as associate professor in the department of medicine, she specializes in infectious diseases. she is also a clinical investigator at the toronto general hospital research institute and the medical director of the infection prevention and control department at the university health network. she has said she was most shaken by early outbreaks in long-term care where so many residents were struggling just to breathe and staff were so stretched they did not have time to grieve over the deaths of those they’d come to know and love.
dr. fatima kakkar is an infectious disease pediatrician who earned her degree at mcgill university, with a residency in pediatrics at western university, a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at the university of toronto, and a master’s degree in public health at harvard university. she
co-authored a study last september that showed the benefits of kids in school outweighed the risks of them catching covid.
dr. srinivas murthy, like dr. barrett, grew up in newfoundland, and attended memorial university. he completed his doctorate at mcgill and his residency at boston children’s hospital. he has worked on the front lines during infectious disease outbreaks, including ebola in west africa. he is currently a clinical associate professor in the department of pediatrics, faculty of medicine at ubc, an investigator at bc children’s hospital, and is leading the canadian contingent of the world health organization’s solidarity trial that recruits covid patients for anti-viral trials.
dr. lynora saxinger earned her degree at the university of saskatchewan and is currently an associate professor, department of medicine, infectious diseases division at the university of alberta. she has a special interest in antimicrobial stewardship and antimicrobial resistance. when she was first called upon to provide medical updates to the public, she had very limited experience, especially with social media, but soon became a regular tweeter on twitter.
dr. alexander wong earned his bachelor’s degree with honours in science at the university of toronto, and his medical degree at the university of western ontario, followed by residency and infectious diseases fellowship at the university of alberta. he is currently an infectious disease physician with the saskatchewan health authority and an assistant professor with the university of saskatchewan. during the devastating third wave that swept regina last march, he described his icu like “being in a war zone”.hanomansing singled out these doctors for their unwavering dedication and stoicism in the face of a deadly pandemic, who — often during early mornings and late nights after gruelling shifts at their respective hospitals — kept us up to date and eased our fears. “i really felt a book was the right medium, partially because of how much detail i needed to put in, but also the permanence of it,” he says. “i felt it would be nice to have this book out there and that people, not only now, but hopefully in the future, can look back at it and say, ‘that was one little piece of our pandemic experience.’”hanomansing spoke with healthing about what it was like to interview people who have been on the frontlines of the pandemic from the very beginning, the impressiveness of their mental toughness and how speaking out earned them the sting of criticism from colleagues.
this interview has been edited for length and clarity.did you ever consider that these doctors wouldn’t want to participate in this book?
ian hanomansing: i thought they might be uncomfortable, or unmotivated. it’s one thing to feel an obligation to explain to the public what’s going on, but it’s an entirely different thing to speak to me about who they are and what motivates them. but i developed a pretty good rapport with all of them [through previous interviews on
the national and the radio show,
cross country check-up], and they all said yes within 24 hours of asking.they stepped forward [when the pandemic started] — they continue to step forward —and were always evidence-based, but at the same time, that evidence was very much framed in terms of real world application. so when canadians asked them about transmission, what we should do about halloween or christmas, or vaccinations, it was never a technical answer — it was always framed in terms of real life. i thought this was really extraordinary — they honestly are not seeking out the limelight, [but] yet, here they are, in the spotlight.
what impressed you about these doctors the most?
i knew i was going to be impressed by their diligence and their sense of duty in speaking, but i was also impressed by their mental toughness and their ability to cope. i guess it’s a pretty standard trait for a lot of people in the medical profession, especially doctors, because they’re used to working really hard, studying a lot of things, and dealing with all kinds of tough situations and vulnerable patients on a daily basis. i found that these people were exceptionally open and unguarded when they spoke to me, and for all of them there were things they’d never said before — as opposed to someone who’s being careful [about what they say] or giving you a message track. as a journalist, you always appreciate that.
were there any surprises?
i was surprised [at] the extent to which they were getting negative reactions [from the public], like death threats. these are people with very thick skins; they’re used to dealing with the public — with patients in some really emotional situations. but for all of them, there was a point that they realized they had to notify [the authorities]. dr. saxinger, for example, said there were times she had to step away from [social media]; dr. hota said the same. dr. chakrabarti said there were some race-based stuff, but he shrugged it off as [being] part of life. dr. bogoch’s [exact quote was]: “i don’t give a shit,” and dr. barrett talked so matter-of-factly about how 80 per cent of it is not threatening.the focus of the interviews was always, ‘who are you and why did you step forward and keep stepping forward?’ i was worried there was going to be a sameness with these doctors, but there wasn’t. whether it’s lisa barrett at the community hospital in old perlican, or isaac bogoch who loved science programs, or lynora saxinger who loved molecular biology and dystopian literature — they all have really different stories even though they all ended up in the same job, more or less.