no evidence to date that this illness, whatever it's caused by, is spread easily from person to person; no health care workers caring for the patients have become ill; a positive sign." On 23 January, Tam was a member of the WHO committee that broadcast that it was too early to declare a public health emergency of international concern. As the pandemic progressed and as was typical at the time, as the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, she made numerous statements that garnered attention, both positive and negative, from the public and from some politicians. Some statements proved to be minimising of the effects of COVID-19, and some were closer to the mark. Tam initially recommended the general public against wearing masks for two reasons: (i) to protect healthcare workers and prioritize supply; and (ii) "potential negative aspects" of wearing masks, stating "it can sometimes make it worse if the person puts their finger in their eye or touches their face under their mask" and that it can give a false sense of security. On 6 April, Tam changed her recommendation to "wearing a non-medical mask, even if you have no symptoms, is an additional measure that you can take to protect others around you in situations where physical distancing is difficult to maintain" because of new data about pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission. On 23 April, Tam was appointed by Justin Trudeau to a new advisory body, the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, whose mandate he declared to be the coordination of serological surveys across the country. In February 2021, an Auditor General's report described how the Public Health Agency of Canada led by Tam failed to fully comprehend the threat posed by COVID-19 to Canadians. In particular, it was noted that the Agency "did not consider forward-looking pandemic risk" when it concluded that COVID‐19 would have a minimal impact if an outbreak were to occur in Canada. References 1965 births Living people Alumni of the University of Nottingham Canadian health officials Canadian pediatricians Women pediatricians Canadian people of Hong Kong descent Canadian public health doctors University of Alberta alumni Women public health doctors