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Canada’s Public Health Officials Garner Praise, ASMR, Beer Tributes

A woman wearing a protective face mask walks past portraits of Dr. Theresa Tam and Dr. Bonnie Henry on a boarded up business in downtown Vancouver, B.C. on April 1, 2020.
A woman wearing a protective face mask walks past portraits of Dr. Theresa Tam and Dr. Bonnie Henry on a boarded up business in downtown Vancouver, B.C. on April 1, 2020.

As Canada rolls into April and its second month of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re slowly adjusting to the new normal of daily case updates, social distancing and infrequent outings.

A big part of that new normal for many Canadians are the public faces of the pandemic, from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s daily briefings in front of his Ottawa home to the regular updates from provincial health ministers and officials.

And those provincial public health officers have skyrocketed to celebrity status.

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Tributes are rolling in across the country for our health-care heroes. And while there’s a fair share of social media love and T-shirts, there’s also been some weird and wonderful ways to honour public health officials.

Drink up

A Quebec microbrewery has introduced a beer named for the province’s chief public health official Dr. Horatio Arruda.

Brasserie Générale - 18e rue announced the “Horatio Porter” last week — a 7.5-per-cent American Porter.

“We already love him so much,” the brewery wrote, announcing the beer. “The man who has a plan and popular Portuguese tarts.”

Arruda initially skyrocketed to popularity with his off-kilter suggestions for how people spend their time at home social distancing — including making portugese tarts.

He’s continued to earn praise for his frank advice and steady calm throughout the crisis.

Sleep well

But it’s not just in Quebec. One website has turned B.C. public health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s soothing voice into “unintentional ASMR.”

Since the beginning of the crisis, Henry has been heralded for her calm, informative approach to...

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