TORONTO – Canada is a two-speed country during this Covid pandemic: while in some provinces there is tentative evidence of loosening restrictions, in others further restrictions are implemented to stem the spread of the virus.
Ontario, as Premier Doug Ford announced last Thursday, will reopen in three steps at 21-day intervals: phase one is expected to begin on June 14.
The situation in Manitoba is different. Days after the request for additional federal aid, Ottawa announced that it would send health workers and other support to the Prairie province, which is currently grappling with high rates of positivity and overloaded intensive care units.
The federal government has said it will also provide medical personnel through the Canadian Red Cross and military aid, adding that it is also ready to send epidemiologists, laboratory technicians and other supports to meet the province’s needs. “The human resources and health equipment we are providing will help reduce the impact of this third wave of Covid-19 in Manitoba,” reads a statement from Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu.
The situation is rapidly degenerating to the point that a group of six doctors has decided to ask Manitoba Public Health to close all non-essential activities and implement an order to “stay-at-home” to help relieve pressure on the province’s health system. “Everyone knows what kind of catastrophe we are currently facing – said Dr. Daniel Roberts, an intensive care physician and one of those calling for further restrictions – in the last three weeks in Manitoba the highest rate of new daily Covid infections in North America has been recorded and this trend seems to be proceeding without any slowdown”.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, meanwhile, health officials on Monday imposed health restrictions on a larger swath of the northeast of the province, placing communities along the Trans-Canada Highway, from Gambo to Badger, below the second-highest alert level. Officials said thirty-two cases, which were linked to an increase in infections in the area, triggered the transition to level 4.
But while parts of Canada are still in the midst of a Covid emergency, other provinces, as cases decrease, seem to catch a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel and have moved to loosen the restrictions.
This is the case in Quebec, which two days ago lifted the last remaining lockdown measures in some of its hotspot regions. The decision to end the special measures in some municipalities in the Estrie, Chaudiere-Appalaches and Bas-Saint-Laurent regions came as the province recorded 433 new Covid-19 infections and 11 new deaths related to the virus.
These areas will now return to the red alert level of the province’s pandemic system, with non-essential business activities that can reopen and the evening curfew that will be postponed to 9:30 a.m., as most of southern Quebec. But the curfew is not set to remain in place for long: by the end of the week it is expected to be lifted across Quebec.
Saskatchewan announced that it would begin relaxing its restrictions less than a month after exceeding the threshold for Phase 2 of its reopening plan, which involved administering a first dose of vaccine to at least 70% of residents aged 30 and over. The province will ease capacity limits for retail, personal care services, restaurants and bars from June 20, although physical distances and other health measures will remain in place. Finally, the third phase will remove almost all remaining public health orders.
Meanwhile, the Yukon government has decided to lift a number of health restrictions including the possibility of gathering up to 200 people in groups both indoors and outdoors, provided physical distances are in place.
The situation in British Columbia is improving: there has been a decrease in hospitalizations caused by Covid and a decrease in new cases and deaths. Same situation also in Alberta, Nova Scotia (54 new infections), New Brunswick (yesterday only 9 new infections).
Slowly the nightmare called Covid-19 could loosen the grip and hopefully we could resume a normal life, a Covid-free life.
