Over the next two weeks, a familiar face will be missing from the daily updates on the COVID-19 pandemic in Windsor-Essex.
Viewers to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit YouTube updates will not see Medical Officer of Health Doctor Wajid Ahmed. Ahmed has served as the face of the region's response to the pandemic since the start one year ago Thursday.
A statement from CEO Theresa Marentette said Ahmed would be taking a two-week leave of absence.
"The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit will be receiving Medical Officer of Health support from other public health units in his absence," she said.
While Ahmed is gone, the Associate Medical Officer of Health in Toronto, Dr. Alexa Caturay, will fulfill his duties.
Warden Gary McNamara, March 3, 2021. (Photo by Maureen Revait)
Although the health unit said "no further details will be shared about his leave of absence," the Chair of the Board of Directors, Gary McNamara, admitted Ahmed has not taken a day off since the start of the pandemic.
"The whole staff, especially the senior management team and in particular our CEO and Dr. Ahmed, have been working seven days a week," he said. "So they're working 12, 14, 16-hour days, and it's been like that continuous."
In addition to managing the local response to the pandemic, McNamara pointed out the health unit still has a myriad of responsibilities unrelated to COVID-19.
"It's taxing," he added. "It weighs heavy -- I mean, you can see it in their faces."
Ahmed has not had it easy being the region's top doctor during a time of crisis. He has faced online criticism from the start about restrictions intended to protect the public from the virus.
"Listen, none of us want businesses to fail," he asserted. "You think that that doesn't weigh on Dr. Ahmed or Theresa Marentette or all of the nurses? Everybody's trying to do the best that they can, and for a select few who want to pin whatever blame -- it's selfish."
Recently, he also defended his attendance at a wedding reception where some attendees were not wearing face masks and were not socially distancing. In a video that circulated on social media, Ahmed appeared masked and standing a distance from other guests.
