Canada’s Deputy Chief Public Health Officer sees the situation developing in the United Sates as a cautionary tale and says now is the time to tap into the knowledge of behavioral science and communications experts. Dr. Howard Njoo says behavioral science determines the drivers which motivate people to take certain actions, while communications experts find the best platform to deliver the message.

Dr. Njoo says across the country public health officials are concerned about the uptick in cases and that success is fragile.

“What I would say is interesting is that the upswing in cases, as I was mentioning, is that some have been associated with bars and restaurants but I don’t think you can pin it all on, quote, the hospitality industry and bars and restaurants. I think many of the cases that we’ve also noted and have been reported have been associated with, you know, indoor parties….private parties at someone’s house.”

Ontario saw a spike of more than 200 cases, and Alberta now has more than a thousand active cases of COVID-19, a level not seen since mid-May.

In terms of what the federal government is offering provinces for support Dr. Njoo says they are leaving it to the provinces to determine what they need and the federal government has tools available like extra staff to perform contact tracing.