Life Unmasked

With so much up in the air at the start of the pandemic, a lot of us were left trying to digest every new restriction, rule, or shut down on our own. Enter - the TV doctor. We check in with medical experts who helped guide the ship during the pandemic, and make everything more digestible for the public.

This episode features Dr. Jennifer Kwan (@jkwan_md), Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti (@TorontoIDDoc), and Dr. Susy Hota (@HotaSusy).

Ontario moves to Step 3 of its economic reopening plan on Friday, a transition that will allow most of the province to once again “open for business,” as the premier is fond of saying.

Indoor dining, movie theatres and gyms will be allowed to operate for the first time in months while spectators will fill large venues such as sport stadiums and concerts yet again.

Although mask wearing and some capacity restrictions remain in place—for the most part, the move to Step 3 is the closest Ontario has been to pre-pandemic life since before the first wave of the deadly disease.

While some may be eager to schedule a large gathering with friends, meet up with family at a restaurant and even attend a concert in-person, others may be less inclined to do so.

Two experts in the field—Dr. Roger McIntyre, a Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Sanjeev Sockalingam, Vice President of Education at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health—join the team to offer their perspective and guidance.

Early in the pandemic, the world was told that COVID-19 could spread by surface contact in addition to through water droplets, leading to a surge in sales for hand sanitizer. Breweries and distilleries completely overhauled their operations to make it and the product couldn’t stay on the shelves—leading to a at least a few instances of price gauging at larger retailers.

James Scott, a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, joins the team to talk about if hand sanitizer was overused, any health or environmental impacts, and if its use is a trend we see continue after the pandemic is long gone.

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