Cause for cautious optimism in Canada’s COVID-19 fight
Despite over 1,000 deaths in Canada, top doctor says growth rate is slowing
OTTAWA — While there’s reason to believe the spread of COVID-19 is slowing, Canadian leaders warned Wednesday it was too soon to ease distancing measures, even as the country’s central bank warned the downturn tied to the virus could be the worst on record. On the day Canada passed the grim milestone of 1,000 deaths, chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam nonetheless said there is cause to be “cautiously optimistic” that the rate of growth is slowing. Tam noted the number of cases in the country is now doubling every 10 days or so, compared to every three days in late March. But she said Canada still hasn’t reached the peak of the outbreak, and it’s too soon to back off physical distancing measures. “Coming down from this epidemic curve will be like making our way down from a mountain in the darkness,” Tam said during her daily briefing in Ottawa. “We mustn’t rush or let go of our safety measures, or the fall will be hard and unforgiving.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned it would still be several more weeks before the country will be able
to consider loosening restrictions that have caused businesses to shutter and put the economy in a tailspin.
Widespread testing and the ability to rapidly track down the contacts of infected people will be key to an eventual return to normal activities, he said.
“We have to be through this first wave sufficiently to be able to know we have the capacity to stamp out and restrict any future outbreaks as they come along,” Trudeau said.
“That means technology, that means better testing capacity, that means continued vigilance — not just by governments but by all Canadians ... We’re still a number of weeks away from that.”
Millions have lost their jobs as the pandemic has forced the closure of businesses, and consumer spending has plummeted as people have been urged to stay home to stop the spread of the virus.
Economic activity dropped a record nine per cent in March alone, preliminary data released by Statistics Canada suggested.
The estimate, which is to be refined over time, would be the sharpest decline in the nearly 60 years the agency has kept such data.
Despite the bleak economic news, Trudeau was blunt as he warned that easing restrictions too soon could unleash a second wave of infections just as damaging as the first.
“If we reopen too soon, everything we’re doing might be for nothing,” the prime minister said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the country counted more than 28,300 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with over half of them in Quebec. There have been 1,007 deaths. Ontario, meanwhile, had 98 facilities reporting COVID-19 outbreaks that have together killed at least 145 residents, including 29 who died at Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, and 27 at Eatonville Care Centre in Toronto.