This is the perspective of one scientist. We have consulted with the best scientists in the country, with experts in infectious disease and infection control.
These are not government guidelines. These are guidelines that have come up from committees of experts from across this country who have reviewed all the evidence from around the world. These are the recommendations based on that.
Let's look at the Vancouver General situation versus Toronto's. They knew what was coming. They knew there was a problem. They isolated it when it came. It had nothing to do with the N95 mask and everything to do with recognizing something and treating it seriously as opposed to not recognizing it and carrying on as if everything was just fine. That's when people are put at risk.
It's not about N95 masks versus surgical masks. It is about the whole comprehensive approach to infection control we need to follow all the time, whether we're talking about C. difficile, MRSA, H1N1, or anything else. It's about treating infectious diseases seriously in hospitals and following good infection control procedures. It is not about N95 masks versus surgical masks. Ninety-nine percent of it is about everything else.