Canada and its campaign of “Flattening the Curves”

The COVID-19 Virus Pandemic has been raging around the world and crippling the global market in recent months. Witnessing the confusion and anxiety of many people and their families, a lot of students got in contact with VIVAS to ask for our advice on the problem of going home or staying in Canada and whether they should come to Canada for the upcoming semester.

Today, VIVAS has decided to draw up and post this article to give everybody an overall update on all aspects of the epidemic in Canada, so that you can be at your highest level of vigilance as well as decide properly for your plans to come.

The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as an acute strain of pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus (NCP), is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus and was first detected in December 2019 in Wuhan city, China. In less than a year and a half, the number of infections has reached nearly 200,000 cases with a mortality rate of approximately 4% (according to worldometer.info – March 17, 2020).

The situation,

As of March 17, 2020, the total number of positive cases for this new strain of virus is approximately 600, making Canada one of the 20 countries with the highest number of infectious patients globally with associated mortality rates of 1.33%

Let us rewind to the beginning of this year. On March 6, the number of confirmed cases had not exceeded 50 after the first case was announced on January 25. However, this number surprisingly jumped to 600 after only half a month.

The cause

In addition to the contagious characteristic of the virus, another most important reason contributing to the rapid spread of the epidemic in Canada is its climate. In other words, the Covid-19 bears many similarities with seasonal flu, while this season is really favorable for the spread or outbreak. Therefore, the huge increase in the number of cases during this period in Canada is obvious. 

The timely emergency decisions

Four months ago in Wuhan, China, with the same weather patterns, mankind had no precaution that created the favourable conditions for the outbreak of Covid-19.

Michael Ryan recommended us to stop hesitation and make decisions as quickly as possible. He also expressed that perfectionism and fear were the biggest enemies in this dangerous situation. Each Government needs to take the most of the time to save their people instead of assessing objective consequences because the biggest mistake is doing nothing.

Fortunately, the Canadian government has acted truly fast in its anti-epidemic strategy. According to experts, Canada’s intervention and power applied in a right and timely way can result in many positive outcomes.

Steven Hoffman, professor of global health and political science at York University in Toronto, said. “The power it brings is pretty extraordinary.”

Over the past weeks, the Canadian government has implemented some strict policies to control the Covid-19’s spread across the country:

• Big events are temporarily postponed and the maximum number of participants are limited to 50.
• All unnecessary food or entertainment services are restricted except to groceries stores or services to meet the basic needs of the people.
• Borders are closed and only accepted entry for Canada’s citizens or permanent residents

What did the experts say?

Dr. Bonnie Henry believed that China is a hot spot because the situation there seemed to be very positive. We are still currently not out of risk, but if China successfully controlled the spread of the epidemic, she thought Canada would be able to do it next month when the temperature rises and the flu season is also over. 

According to an analysis of the total number of cases in Canada by a public health site, more than 80% of positive cases are immigrants or those who are closely related to people who have been infected.

Isaac Bogoch also added that when the government’s decree was approved, it will allow people to adjust their life to the epidemic and prevent the virus from spreading. We will still have to go through the peak of the outbreak, but it will not be as catastrophic as what happened in the US and Italy.

What is “Flattening the Curves” and whether it will work?

As far as we know, the medical staff and infrastructure of any country are at a certain limit. The term “Flatten the curves” was introduced in 2007 about influenza strategies.

And now, it has erupted again as a community call not to eliminate the epidemic, but to delay the peak of the outbreak, reduce the pressure on the health care system and limit the severity of the pandemic. The basic method of turning the curve straight is to practice social distancing to partly prevent the risk of infection. 

In short, the Canadian government’s pandemic prevention measures have caught the fire in time, raised people’s awareness, and limited the spread of the virus at the peak of the outbreak. Taking care of yourself and following the Government’s instructions is an efficient way to protect your family and community.