COVID‑19 is running rampant in the U.S. and the Canadian government must do whatever it can to protect Canadians from a similar fate.
On March 5, officials in B.C. confirmed Canada’s first case of community spread, meaning people are catching the virus in this country, not just returning already infected. As of March 27, there are 542 cases in Alberta, according to Alberta Health. The Canadian government must take drastic actions to flatten the curve and prevent the virus from collapsing our healthcare system. But the most devastating impact could be the economic problems it causes.
When Chinese authorities discovered how serious the outbreak in Wuhan was, they quarantined 11 million people in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID19. How likely is our government to isolate millions of people in a city such as Toronto or Vancouver?
Canadians are very protective of human rights and are not accustomed to the kinds of measures taken in China. Does the Trudeau government have the stomach to enforce a lockdown and prevent people from entering or leaving their community?
Canadians need to accept the reality that the virus is here and they will probably get it. The question is what will living in Canada during a COVID19 epidemic look like? According to the World Health Organization, 3.4 per cent of those infected with this mysterious illness die.
The biggest threat to Canadians is not the novel coronavirus, but the economic havoc it is likely to bring with it. Canada imported over $50 billion of products from China last year, according to Trading Economics. When China was quarantining millions of people in Hubei province in January and February, production ground to a halt. Canadians are dependent on Chinese goods for many of their everyday needs and conveniences.
It is difficult to say how disruptive things will be now, but that disruption will be felt in the coming months. People will find themselves less impacted by the virus than by the fact that they can’t find toilet paper or hand sanitizer in stores. What is the Canadian government’s plan for easing these supply chain woes?
The number of COVID-19 cases reached 620,000 on March 28, according to the WHO. How reliable are those numbers? Many of those cases are in China, whose government is not exactly known for being forthright with information. A bigger concern for Canadians is the rate of infection in our neighbour to the south. The U.S. is quickly becoming the epicentre for the outbreak, with 85,356 cases being reported by the Center for Disease Control as of March 28. The thing about identifying cases is you need to test for them first. How much testing is the American government doing?
Canadians should be concerned about the massive amount of cases going undetected in the U.S. Americans do not have universal health care, so your average U.S. citizen is not able to take a COVID-19 test if they suspect they have the virus. There is also a controversy surrounding faulty kits which rendered many early tests inaccurate. The Canadian government should take every precaution possible to prevent non-essential traffic from crossing the U.S./Canada border. The Trump administration is dropping the ball in a huge way and Canada should do everything possible to protect its citizens from the viral disaster unfolding in the U.S.
