It is clear that politicians made such a powerful case by convincing the Canadian public to fear the spread of the new coronavirus that they may have been frightened. The elected leaders now seem paralyzed with fear, terrified of allowing us to venture too far from our homes and begin to rebuild our economy.
It needs to be noted that somewhere in the midst of horror at projections that COVID-19 would kill hundreds of thousands of Canadians, our initial goal, at least reasonable, is to ensure that our health care system can cope with the pandemic, seems to have been lost. The leaders apparently think that now they must prevent people from catching him entirely. At his Monday morning press conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested he is not eager to see the end of the blockades, as the provinces make apprehensive plans to reopen.
Nursing homes and the elderly should have been better protected at all times, but controlling the spread of infection to protect “everyone” is unrealistic, as it is a highly contagious coronavirus that takes days to develop symptoms.
Something irrepressible
It is time to bring up that Dr. Neil Rau, who is an infectious disease specialist and medical microbiologist, has indicated that politicians are now trying to “contain the irrepressible.” So if you stay locked in pursuit of that unrealistic goal, you can keep flattening the curve, slowing down the spread rate, but not stopping it, it will flatten out what remains of our already devastated economy.
With the possible exception of Quebec, which has seen a hospital crisis in Montreal, the reality that our health care capacity has not only achieved but exceeded expectations, is excellent news. Politicians make the persuasive case that this is precisely because we have taken refuge in place. Maybe. But a growing body of literature suggests that effective monitoring and quarantine measures are the most important strategies for keeping transmission rates low; Blockades, Not So Much: In many jurisdictions, the data shows cases peaking before the blockades could have a significant effect.
Without a doubt, a world without blockages is surely what millions of Canadians want, and with good reason. If each month of a shutdown means losing a full year of potential economic growth, as an economist recently told the Financial Post, then each week counts dearly. But while other Canadian politicians remain scared to move on, any block of public support they have ever had ran the risk of turning to anger and unrest if Canadians were soon impatient.
Source: Kevin Libin | National Post
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