Experts weigh in on shifting public health messaging on ‘learn to live with COVID’

Shifting from the predominant message of ``stay home'' to ``learn to live with it'' is going to be difficult for a lot of people, said Dr. Anna Banerji.

Ontarians have recently started hearing their top health and government officials speak of “learning to live with COVID-19,” but it doesn’t mean immediately returning to life as it was in 2019 and authorities should be refining their message, experts say.

Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, is now using the phrase, as are Toronto’s top doctor, Ontario’s health minister and Premier Doug Ford.

Shifting from the predominant message of “stay home” to “learn to live with it” is going to be difficult for a lot of people, said Dr. Anna Banerji, a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

“We all have collective trauma — all of the world has, to some degree, collective trauma — for the past few years,” she said.

“I think it will be a hardship for people. People are terrified of getting it. And a lot of people are doing all the right things.”

For some, the message represents a welcome transition, but it should be done gradually because the health-care system is still struggling, she said.

“It may not be so much the government saying, ‘You have to do these measures to keep society safe.’ I think it’s probably going to transition to, ‘What are your risks? Who’s around you?”’

Justin Presseau, co-chair of the Ontario science table’s behavioural science working group, said he’s personally not a fan of the “learn to live with the virus” narrative.