Neudorf taking fire over COVID-19 comments

By Herald on August 30, 2021.

Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf speaks during an announcement Monday at Lethbridge College where he also attempted to clarify comments he made last week regarding COVID cases in unvaccinated Albertans. Herald photo by Trevor Busch

Trevor Busch – Lethbridge Herald

Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf has attempted to clarify comments he made to local media last week which suggested the province might benefit from a spike in COVID-19 infections among unvaccinated Albertans.

Citing trends from the U.K.’s COVID response, on Friday Neudorf told Bridge City News he was “hopeful” that rising case numbers in Alberta would result in a rapid decline after the virus has “finished going through the unvaccinated population”, resulting in herd immunity.

Alberta has experienced a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases fuelled by the far more contagious Delta variant. There are well over one million unvaccinated Albertans, including 660,000 children under 12 who are not eligible to get shots. 

The UCP caucus chair was grilled by media on Monday morning following a press conference at Lethbridge College announcing new micro-credential opportunities. 

Discarding a focus on the government announcement, media attention was centered on Neudorf who was asked flat out if he was hoping to see COVID-19 infections “burn through” Alberta’s unvaccinated.

“Absolutely not, nor am I hoping for a spike,” said Neudorf. “I think we have seen COVID cases rise in Alberta over the past several weeks. My hope is that they would level off and drop as quickly as possible.”

Referencing the information he has seen, Neudorf suggested the trend may show a spike in cases and then a rapid decline.

“Some of the charts I’ve seen show an increase in cases and then a drop and a leveling off. So my hope is that they would continue to drop and level off as we see vaccinations doing what they’re meant to do, which is limit the spread of COVID.”

Neudorf denied he had suggested the coronavirus run unchecked through Alberta’s population of unvaccinated citizens in his comments to Bridge City News last week.

“That’s actually not…I’ve haven’t changed anything. I’ve never hoped for cases to go up, I was talking to clarify my point. Again, we have seen cases rise in Alberta over the past several weeks, and we have seen that largely amongst the unvaccinated population. My hope is that it would level off and drop as quickly as it rose, and that’s what we’ve have to watch and wait and see. I don’t believe that’s a change from what I said last week.”

Pinned down over the comment, Neudorf admitted he had been speaking personally.

“Those are my personal understanding. As to the government’s plan it was to encourage as many Albertans as possible to be vaccinated. I trust that they work, and see the limit of the spread of COVID-19.”

Reading from a prepared statement, Neudorf later reiterated he had been interpreting numbers and trends generated in the U.K.  

“To clarify the point that I was trying to make last week, COVID cases have risen in Alberta over the past several weeks, largely among the unvaccinated population. This is a matter of fact. Looking at data from the U.K., the hope is that cases will level off soon and then drop, due to the fact that most Albertans are already vaccinated.”

Responding to Neudorf’s clarification of his comments during an NDP press conference in Calgary on Monday, Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips called for Neudorf’s resignation.

“That is an odious and shameful thing for an elected official to say. He did not clearly retract, apologize, take responsibility or show accountability for those comments as of this morning. Yet another instance of poor leadership on the part of the UCP.”

NDP caucus chair Joe Ceci joined Phillips in calling for Neudorf’s resignation and an apology over the issue.

“It is morally reprehensible for anyone to call for this situation to get worse. It is totally unacceptable for an elected official in a position of public trust to make such an ill-informed and dangerous comment.”

Phillips went on to suggest Neudorf showed extremely poor judgement and a “jaw-dropping” disregard for health workers in Alberta.

“Mr. Neudorf indicated that what he was hoping for was a rapid spike, and also that we’ll see what happens. Neither of those statements reflect either good judgement, they reflect a callous disregard for the severe outcomes people will experience as a result of the spread of COVID-19. They reflect an absolutely astonishing and jaw-dropping disregard for our health care system, and our health care workers.” 

– with files from Canadian Press and Tim Kalinowski