Canadian health experts pushing for lockdowns using #COVIDZero online while cases rise
Posted November 16, 2020 6:27 am.
Last Updated November 16, 2020 6:51 am.
Health experts are pushing for lockdowns while cases of COVID-19 across the country continue to add up — nearing 300,000.
As of Monday morning, Canada’s case count stood at 295,987.
Provinces, such as Ontario and Quebec, are reporting more than 1,000 new cases a day, and Alberta is getting close.
Now there’s a lot of talk about the “circuit breaker approach,” a two-week lockdown to get cases down.
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Infection disease expert at Toronto’s Sinai Health and University Health Network, Dr. Andrew Morris, and his colleagues, are pushing the hashtag #COVIDZero on social media.
The social media movement is a call to stamp out the virus — meaning longer and stricter restrictions.
Morris told the Globe and Mail that if you just do it for a few weeks, we’re going to have it rise again. He said it’s going to take weeks and weeks to drive the number of cases down dramatically — as close to zero as possible — but adds we won’t have to worry about further lockdowns.
Economists warn that full on lockdowns will add hundreds of billions of dollars in new government debt.
Canada’s top doctor, Theresa Tam, is pleading with Canadians to not let their guard down in indoor settings as winter approaches.
As most of the country enters into various restrictive measures to arrest transmission cycles, now is the time for governments and the public to decide:
Q: Do we want repeated cycles of various tight restrictions, or do we wish to move to a more normal life?
A: #COVIDzero
— Andrew Morris (@ASPphysician) November 15, 2020
This is clear messaging.
We can avoid having to do this kind of messaging in the future if we adopt a #COVIDzero strategy:
1. Target zero cases and transmission
2. Develop a world-class Test/Trace/Isolate/Support system
3. Support those most affected by pursuing elimination https://t.co/YiM5nhw6Xd— Andrew Morris (@ASPphysician) November 15, 2020
