Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe: Three Words and Four Weeks that shaped a pandemic
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- Create Date：2021-03-17 08:16:38
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Bonnie Henry
- ISBN：0735241856
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Summary
From the BC doctor who has become a household name for leading the response to the pandemic， a personal account of the first weeks of COVID， for readers of Sam Nutt's Damned Nations and James Maskayk's Life on the Ground Floor。
Dr。 Bonnie Henry has been called one of the most effective public health figures in the world by The New York Times。 She has been called a calming voice in a sea of coronavirus madness， and our hero in national newspapers。 But in the waning days of 2019， when the first rumours of a strange respiratory ailment in Wuhan， China began to trickle into her office in British Colombia， these accolades lay in a barely imaginable future。
Only weeks later， the whole world would look back on the previous year with the kind of nostalgia usually reserved for the distant past。 With a staggering suddenness， our livelihoods， our closest relationships， our habits and our homes had all been transformed。
In a moment when half-truths threatened to drown out the truth， when recklessness all too often exposed those around us to very real danger， and when it was difficult to tell paranoia from healthy respect for an invisible threat， Dr。 Henry's transparency， humility， and humanity became a beacon for millions of Canadians。
And her trademark enjoinder to be kind， be calm， and be safe became words for us all to live by。
Coincidentally， Dr。 Henry's sister， Lynn， arrived in BC for a long-planned visit on March 12， just as the virus revealed itself as a pandemic。 For the four ensuing weeks， Lynn had rare insight into the whirlwind of Bonnie's daily life， with its moments of agony and gravity as well as its occasional episodes of levity and grace。 Both a global story and a family story， Be Kind， Be Calm， Be Safe combines Lynn's observations and knowledge of Bonnie's personal and professional background with Bonnie's recollections of how and why decisions were made， to tell in a vivid way the dramatic tale of the four weeks that changed all our lives。
Be Kind， Be Calm， Be Safe is about communication， leadership， and public trust; about the balance between politics and policy; and， at heart， about what and who we value， as individuals and a society。
The authors' advance from the publisher will be donated to charities with a focus on alleviating communities hit particularly hard by the pandemic: True North Aid with its Covid-19 response in Northern Indigenous communities， and First Book Canada， with its focus on reading and literacy for underserved， marginalized youth。
Dr。 Bonnie Henry has been called one of the most effective public health figures in the world by The New York Times。 She has been called a calming voice in a sea of coronavirus madness， and our hero in national newspapers。 But in the waning days of 2019， when the first rumours of a strange respiratory ailment in Wuhan， China began to trickle into her office in British Colombia， these accolades lay in a barely imaginable future。
Only weeks later， the whole world would look back on the previous year with the kind of nostalgia usually reserved for the distant past。 With a staggering suddenness， our livelihoods， our closest relationships， our habits and our homes had all been transformed。
In a moment when half-truths threatened to drown out the truth， when recklessness all too often exposed those around us to very real danger， and when it was difficult to tell paranoia from healthy respect for an invisible threat， Dr。 Henry's transparency， humility， and humanity became a beacon for millions of Canadians。
And her trademark enjoinder to be kind， be calm， and be safe became words for us all to live by。
Coincidentally， Dr。 Henry's sister， Lynn， arrived in BC for a long-planned visit on March 12， just as the virus revealed itself as a pandemic。 For the four ensuing weeks， Lynn had rare insight into the whirlwind of Bonnie's daily life， with its moments of agony and gravity as well as its occasional episodes of levity and grace。 Both a global story and a family story， Be Kind， Be Calm， Be Safe combines Lynn's observations and knowledge of Bonnie's personal and professional background with Bonnie's recollections of how and why decisions were made， to tell in a vivid way the dramatic tale of the four weeks that changed all our lives。
Be Kind， Be Calm， Be Safe is about communication， leadership， and public trust; about the balance between politics and policy; and， at heart， about what and who we value， as individuals and a society。
The authors' advance from the publisher will be donated to charities with a focus on alleviating communities hit particularly hard by the pandemic: True North Aid with its Covid-19 response in Northern Indigenous communities， and First Book Canada， with its focus on reading and literacy for underserved， marginalized youth。
Reviews
Kai
，
Readers should manage their expectations going into this one。 If you're looking for something that goes into the science of COVID-19， look elsewhere。 Instead， this is more akin to a diary of the Province's Health Officer with observations of the PHO's sister that captures the rationale of the PHO's decisions from January 2020 and early April 2020。 You come away with an understanding of how the PHO's experiences with SARS and Ebola have shaped her thinking—how inequity， stigma and shame must be b Readers should manage their expectations going into this one。 If you're looking for something that goes into the science of COVID-19， look elsewhere。 Instead， this is more akin to a diary of the Province's Health Officer with observations of the PHO's sister that captures the rationale of the PHO's decisions from January 2020 and early April 2020。 You come away with an understanding of how the PHO's experiences with SARS and Ebola have shaped her thinking—how inequity， stigma and shame must be balanced with the "obvious" decisions。 While it is not particularly critical， the PHO's sister occassionally points out various faults of her sister， whether it's inviting family over or sitting in a busy restaurant。 Additionally， the PHO also notes when incidents caught her by surprise。 Overall， it is an easy， quick read that allows readers to peek into the PHO's thinking。 Readers likely won't agree with every justification she has in the book—some may disagree with all of it—but it is an ostensibly honest look at her thought process。 I would have appreciated more science， but for what it is， I recommend it。 。。。more
Ben Rogers
，
Surprisingly bad。 I really enjoyed her other book Soap and Water and Common Sense: The Definitive Guide to Viruses， Bacteria， Parasites， and Disease， but this book felt rushed， and generally was uninteresting。 I also didn't learn much from it。 I was thinking it was going to be more like the great books I read about this Wuhan flu like Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live or Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from the Original Epicenter。 People don't seem to lis Surprisingly bad。 I really enjoyed her other book Soap and Water and Common Sense: The Definitive Guide to Viruses， Bacteria， Parasites， and Disease， but this book felt rushed， and generally was uninteresting。 I also didn't learn much from it。 I was thinking it was going to be more like the great books I read about this Wuhan flu like Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live or Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from the Original Epicenter。 People don't seem to listen or follow rules when you're kind here in BC。 She prides herself in this book on opening restaurants （for example） when people should have just been ordering takeout to keep the economy going。 1。8/5 。。。more
Serena
，
This book was terrible and disappointing。 Bonnie Henry failed to do what was best for the province and continuously said “be kind。” That’s not good enough when there is a pandemic raging through the world。 Then she would act shocked when the numbers increased。 I am ashamed to be from BC because of her。 A complete disgrace。
Reko Williams
，
Spent 2020 gaslighting the public， shutting down businesses， sueing churches。。。 Then makes a profit off the pandemic with a book。。。 Meanwhile making sher normal salary all year。
Linda Brown
，
I was disappointed in this book。 I thought I’d learn something about the daily life of a strong woman in science， but this is more of a sappy story between two sisters。 Even the science bits came off as corny。 The prose is pedestrian and banal。 Neither sister appears to be a gifted writer。 And the story behind how one woman shaped a pandemic （strange choice of words， for a global phenomenon） ends up being almost as mundane as the book title。 More of a slogan than anything else。 I regret buying t I was disappointed in this book。 I thought I’d learn something about the daily life of a strong woman in science， but this is more of a sappy story between two sisters。 Even the science bits came off as corny。 The prose is pedestrian and banal。 Neither sister appears to be a gifted writer。 And the story behind how one woman shaped a pandemic （strange choice of words， for a global phenomenon） ends up being almost as mundane as the book title。 More of a slogan than anything else。 I regret buying the book on pre-order， because by the time it arrived， B。C。’s future looked bleak。 Variants on the rise， but from I can tell， no effort to do anything about them。 B。C。 schools don’t seem to enforce masks for kids in elementary schools， or for older kids in the classroom when they’re at their desks。 That was shocking to see in the news， especially this far into the pandemic。 Glad we don’t live in B。C。 I would never send my kid to school under conditions like that。 Seems like the main thing that was shaped in this book was Dr。 Henry’s image。 。。。more
Nightcolors
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I'd rate this book minus 5 stars， if I could。 Nothing positive about this book。 I would not recommend this to anyone。 I'd rate this book minus 5 stars， if I could。 Nothing positive about this book。 I would not recommend this to anyone。 。。。more
M
，
What an interesting little book。 I enjoyed getting an idea of what Dr Henry was experiencing those first few weeks of the pandemic。 Both the personal and professional aspects of Dr。 Bonnie Henry are intriguing。 Her and her sister wrote a quick read that truly takes one back to that first month of covid 19。 While reading it I was transported back to that life changing time。 I can only imagine the pressure one faces in her role。 Dr。 Bonnie Henry is not only a leader， but a human being。 Along with What an interesting little book。 I enjoyed getting an idea of what Dr Henry was experiencing those first few weeks of the pandemic。 Both the personal and professional aspects of Dr。 Bonnie Henry are intriguing。 Her and her sister wrote a quick read that truly takes one back to that first month of covid 19。 While reading it I was transported back to that life changing time。 I can only imagine the pressure one faces in her role。 Dr。 Bonnie Henry is not only a leader， but a human being。 Along with her intelligence and experience is a big heart that shines through。 。。。more
Jaclyn Macrae
，
TL/DR: We got lucky last March。 Dr。 Henry has placed the economy ahead of lives。 No one should be profiting off of a pandemic， least of all someone that has skated through it based on how people perceive her， but not on the reality of what was happening on the ground， her sister， or her sister's publishing company。~~As a resident of British Columbia， it has been increasingly disheartening to have the world believe that we have been acing our pandemic response， largely due to the actions of Dr。 H TL/DR: We got lucky last March。 Dr。 Henry has placed the economy ahead of lives。 No one should be profiting off of a pandemic， least of all someone that has skated through it based on how people perceive her， but not on the reality of what was happening on the ground， her sister， or her sister's publishing company。~~As a resident of British Columbia， it has been increasingly disheartening to have the world believe that we have been acing our pandemic response， largely due to the actions of Dr。 Henry。Unfortunately， this narrative continues to be perpetuated， and people are shocked to hear that:-She and the BC CDC still deny airborne transmission。 This means:*Our health care workers are still working under contact/droplet precautions， not airborne*Our schools still don't have mask mandates （"children are not capable of wearing them for long periods， and there are no proven benefits of having them do so"）*Contact tracing for exposures in schools are still based on face to face contact for 15 minutes - no matter how much time in a day， in a small， poorly ventilated classroom， 30 students and teachers spend， because outside of one school board's high school classrooms， our schools still don't have lowered density*The one layer of protection in schools is hand washing-She， the BC CDC， and other Medical Health Officers， still maintain that children are vectors for other viruses， but not SARS-CoV-2。 Even though studies have now shown that children can actually be vectors for it， and are often even the index case in their households - especially school aged children。-School aged children with disabilities or health concerns that put them at higher risk to contract COVID and/or die from it， are told they are not at further risk in schools that don't have mask mandates or distancing/lowered density in place， even when community transmission is high。 At-risk teachers， staff， and any person in a school building living with at-risk family members are told the same。-We don't have language for outbreaks in schools in BC; we can have exposures and clusters， but the criteria for an outbreak in most other jurisdictions （including in BC in LTC homes）， does not exist for schools。Using that as their basis， Dr。 Henry and the BC CDC still maintain that schools are completely safe， with very little transmission， however， child cases have risen from ~500 at the beginning of September， to 11，800+ since the first day of school。Additionally， it is still difficult to get children tested for COVID。 The majority of school exposure notices advise parents to send kids to school even if exposed， and monitor for symptoms （disregarding pre/asymptomatic spread， and using a reduced list of symptoms）; the app recommended for parents to use for symptom screening *never* indicates a parent should take their child for a test， no matter which symptoms are input; the same tool for adults， with comparable symptoms input， indicates a test is needed。Contact tracing forms do not allow for parents to choose their children as a close contact。All of these things mean that we aren't collecting accurate data - and then Dr。 Henry maintains that the data show schools are safe。 How can we know， when we actively discourage the collection of said data？The only reason we have a grasp on what might be happening in our schools is because two mums have been meticulously reviewing and cataloguing school exposure letters provided anonymously by parents around the province。 But not every case or exposure in a school comes with a letter， so there are many others that are still unaccounted for - both on the school tracker， and in the few government numbers that are released。Current studies and data from places such as Quebec， Ontario， and the UK， show that schools are actually a vector for further transmission into the community。 Because our 'layers of protection' in BC schools are equal to， or less than， the protections in those other jurisdictions， there is no reason why we can't come to the conclusion that it is the same in BC。-Variants of Concern are currently spreading in our province （most notably B。1。1。7 in schools）， and Dr。 Henry has stated we are taking a 'wait and see' approach， even though we can see what happened to other countries that did the same thing。-Our 'situation reports' are at least a week out of date， so when we receive our next one， on March 10th， it will be current to February 27th。 Including our VoC count。-Dr。 Henry still discourages the use of rapid tests， even in LTC outbreaks and schools with multiple exposures， indicating they are inaccurate and require three people to administer （while provinces like NS have teenagers trained to use them independently）; we have more than TWO MILLION sitting in storage， some close to expiry。-Dr。 Henry still downplays asymptomatic transmission， and residents of BC are still encouraged to get tested only if they are symptomatic。 Some people have had to LIE to get tested， about symptoms that aren't measurable by a third party （sore throat， fatigue， headache， muscle aches）， and have been found to be positive。 Some have still been turned away from testing。-She and the BC CDC pad the daily public testing numbers with routine， private testing numbers， which improves our percent positivity （which has been above 5% since November， 7th， 2020， and in some areas has been as high as 20%， with no change in restrictions）。-Dr。 Henry still refuses to collect and disseminate race based data， even though the Indigenous leaders in BC have been asking her for it， in order to respond appropriately to protect their communities， and even though other jurisdictions that have done so have shown how much more racialized populations are negatively impacted by the spread of COVID。-There have been numerous discrepancies in data that is provided， for example case numbers being shifted around and back dated。 Mario Possamai， who was a senior adviser on the SARS Commission， has been quoted as saying in his Fall 2020 report 'A Time of Fear': "The most problematic jurisdiction may be British Columbia。 Its publicly disclosed data has been incomplete， inconsistent and on occasion， seemingly contradictory。"It is notable that one of the findings from the SARS Commission Report is that the Precautionary Principle should be followed when dealing with a novel respiratory virus， and yet none of what Dr。 Henry， who was one of the people responsible for the Ontario SARS failures， has done indicates she is following those recommendations。Vulnerable people， including those with developmental disabilities， are not prioritized for vaccine here， even though they are 3-10x more likely to die of COVID， and other jurisdictions are prioritizing them， because Dr。 Henry is focusing on age-based roll out， only。 （Again， that data pulled from the US and UK studies， because we don't collect it， either。）Dr。 Henry has stated that aiming for Zero Covid is not possible in BC， even though we have real time examples of provinces - in Canada， even - and countries （not only single country continents， or islands） that have managed to achieve it handily。In the end， we got lucky last March。 Not because of anything Dr。 Henry did， but because our March break happened to be well timed with the federal travel restrictions， and eventually we followed the rest of the country in closing schools （one of the most effective NPIs， especially when coupled with government support to keep people safe at home， as in New Zealand）， and non-essential businesses。 Though there was heel dragging even on those topics。Since school reopening last June， and economic reopening last June/July， it has been clear that Dr。 Henry has put the economy， and saving government money， ahead of saving lives。 Or， rather， that there is a number of lives she has accepted as being expendable， to keep the economy open。She even encouraged us to stay in local hotels， and eat in local restaurants ahead of Family Day in February 2021。 （Even though restaurants have been shown to be transmission 'hot spots' elsewhere。） And is now encouraging overnight travel within our province starting NEXT WEEK for March Break， even though we don't have control of community spread， and our VoCs are climbing exponentially。177 people died before our case levels got down to single digits in July 2020。 Instead of being brave， and following in the footsteps of other health officers and leaders that saw the value in brief hard lockdowns to continue to arrest spread and save lives， and keep case numbers low， especially in the face of open borders， Dr。 Henry has allowed a further 1214 and counting people， mostly vulnerable residents of Long Term Care facilities， to die。Currently （March 2021）， we have the second highest case rate in Canada， and earlier in the year， led the country in highest per capita LTC deaths。This book and the timing of its release are tone deaf， and Penguin Random House and Allen Lane Books are tone deaf for publishing it。No one should be profiting off of a pandemic， least of all someone that has skated through it based on how people perceive her， but not on the reality of what was happening on the ground， her sister， or her sister's publishing company。 。。。more
Petra
，
This is the same person that was the public health operations lead for the badly mishandled SARS outbreak in Toronto in 2003。 Once again with SARS-Cov-2 she has not just failed to follow the precautionary principle but been stubbornly DETERMINED not to do so。She has fought the public outcry for more preventative and precautionary measures every step of the way。 She refused to mandate masks in HOSPITALS so our Minister of Public Safety finally did so instead in Nov 2020 - eleven months into a PAN This is the same person that was the public health operations lead for the badly mishandled SARS outbreak in Toronto in 2003。 Once again with SARS-Cov-2 she has not just failed to follow the precautionary principle but been stubbornly DETERMINED not to do so。She has fought the public outcry for more preventative and precautionary measures every step of the way。 She refused to mandate masks in HOSPITALS so our Minister of Public Safety finally did so instead in Nov 2020 - eleven months into a PANDEMIC。 I am horrified that she has been allowed to write a book and profit off of the tragedy that she has helped to perpetuate through inaction， egregiously misleading messaging， and even direct interference in the efforts of schools and communities to stay safe。 If TransLink （public transit） or BC Ferries were govt run orgs （thank god they are not） public health made it clear that there would be no mask mandate for them。Worse， she has poisoned the understanding of our up and coming public health officers about public health goals， responsibilities and processes。 This will have repercussions for us for many decades to come。 。。。more
Brianne
，
Don’t waste your money。
Kerry
，
I find it very interesting that all the people giving this book a one star review have not read any other books or this is the only book they have marked as “read”。 Seems very targeted to me and it is obvious they set up a Goodreads acct to just come on here and rate a book they obviously haven’t read。 That one star rating will not last long because it was a great book just as her other one was
John Johnston
，
Given that Dr Henry and company did barely anything to proactively manage the pandemic， policy was largely non-existent， and about all that was achieved was to parrot endless motherhood statements and platitudes， it is unsurprising that this book is much of the same。 The fact that Dr Henry thinks that her 3 words and 4 weeks shaped the pandemic， speaks to her self-delusion， and this naivety is apparent throughout。 Perhaps if Dr Henry has spent more time managing and less time writing， this book Given that Dr Henry and company did barely anything to proactively manage the pandemic， policy was largely non-existent， and about all that was achieved was to parrot endless motherhood statements and platitudes， it is unsurprising that this book is much of the same。 The fact that Dr Henry thinks that her 3 words and 4 weeks shaped the pandemic， speaks to her self-delusion， and this naivety is apparent throughout。 Perhaps if Dr Henry has spent more time managing and less time writing， this book might actually have something to say for itself。 。。。more
RM
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RM
Nick
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Grossly mismanaging the pandemic while putting teachers in harms way。 Is not up to date with current variants of the virus。 She did nothing in the first month of the pandemic。 I highly suggest not wasting your hard earned money to allow this inept to profit off the pandemic。
Tara
，