Canada needs a hospital capacity-based approach to guide local lifting and reintroduction of restrictive measures as necessary
The past two months have shown that with major sacrifices, the community transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus could be slowed down. In Canada, we can rightfully say that we were able to “flatten the curve” to avert a northern Italy or New York City scenario. Now we face the unintended consequences: delays in medical care for non-COVID-19 patients, educational impacts, the looming pandemic of mental-health issues, and massive economic repercussions.
In Canada, the individual rate of death from COVID-19 for people under 65 years of age is six per million people, or 0.0006 per cent. This is roughly equivalent to the risk of dying from a motor vehicle accident during the same time period. In other countries where data are available, 0.6-2.6 per cent of deaths in people below age 65 have occurred in people without known underlying health conditions.
We need a tailored regional approach if the local hospital system gets strained. Germany, for example, chose a local threshold of 50 new cases per 100,000 population per week for when reinstitution of lockdown measures must be considered based on local capacity. The Ontario equivalent using the same threshold would be 7,300 new cases per week, or 1,043 per day.
Will this approach cost more deaths? Sweden, which allowed for more community transmission, is the measure of this strategy. More deaths per capita did occur than in Canada. On the positive side, Sweden’s number of new cases has peaked and Sweden will be better protected against future waves and the need for future restrictions. In the absence of a vaccine, it is a question of paying now or paying later.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ontario should start testing asymptomatic people for COVID-19, infectious disease expert saysOntario's decision not to test asymptomatic people for COVID-19 infections is a policy that the province should consider changing and soon, a Toronto-based infectious disease specialist said.
Read more »
Lockdown and release: Ontario’s imperfect wall against COVID-19 is about to be severely testedOn Tuesday, the Ontario government begins the first stage of a gradual reopening of one of the country’s worst-hit provinces
Read more »
Virus slowdown pushes global carbon emissions to 14-year lowSome of the behaviour seen during the COVID-19 lockdown could inform future policy, such as giving people incentives to work from home
Read more »
COVID-19: Canfor to close Prince George sawmill as supply problems hitCOVID-19: Canfor to close Prince George sawmill as disease and supply problems hit
Read more »