The Chief Medical Health Officer of Canada says it is time to address quarantine fatigue. Theresa Tam says many Canadians are feeling trepidation, wondering if the time is right for reopening the economy, as well as contemplating how to keep themselves and their families safe.
Dr. Tam says these are valid concerns.
“Go out smart by remaining vigilant with public health measures to prevent the spread of the virus. And this includes physical distancing. Two metres from others keeps us far enough away to prevent from coming into contact with potentially infectious droplets produced when people cough, sneeze, laugh, sing or speak, including those who do not appear to be ill.”
She acknowledges that there are still uncertainties and still lots to learn but they do know we’ll be living with COVID-19 for the forseeable future and that public health measures have to be part of daily life.
The Prime Minister kicked off his COVID-19 briefing Thursday by announcing Indigenous People living in urban areas and off reserve will be getting additional support as the federal government is providing $75-million in funding. Justin Trudeau says this is in addition to $15-million allocated for services such as counselling, health care, food and supportive housing.
The Prime Minister suggested the federal government was willing to invest in a national frame work to lead the way on testing and contact tracing for the novel coronavirus.
Justin Trudeau was asked, in his call with the premiers tonight, if they take him up on the offer, how fast can it be rolled out.
“Be ready to scale up almost instantly in places where right now the virus is pretty well under control but any flare ups need to be responded to extremely quickly. That is the frame that we’re laying out. We don’t want logistical or financial limitations to keep anywhere in this country held back from doing all the testing that is necessary.”
The Prime Minister also said the scale of contact tracing capacity and the scale of testing capacity is also a large part of the answer to questions about what plans may be in the works to deal with a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest numbers from the federal government indicate 80,555 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Canada. There have been 6,062 deaths. 51% of those diagnosed with the virus have recovered. Of the 1-million-377-thousand tests that have been conducted, 5% are positive.
