Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

FELDSTED -- It makes no difference how we got here, or who made what decisions when -- none of that changes where we are today


Picking through and sorting out coronavirus / COVID-19 bones is a waste of time and energy. It makes no difference how we got here, or who made what decisions when.

None of that changes where we are today.

The infection curve was hypothetical, and it appears we have managed to avoid the estimated infection rate scenario. We cannot know if that is due to enforced isolation, overestimates of virus spread rates or some of each.

There is no cure for coronavirus on the horizon. Our challenge is to find a way to cohabit with the virus while minimizing infections and maximizing recovery rates. We forget that we exist with other influenza viruses we have no cure for.

Coronavirus is an inanimate bit of parasitic protein that can infect us but cannot attack us. Infected people can infect others. We need to identify infected people early and trace contacts while we isolate and treat them to minimize fatalities. We need to have an income replacement plan for isolated people for that system to work.

We failed to learn lessons from SARS and H1N1 outbreaks ... and did not use our surveillance resources to identify the next virus epidemic that we knew would appear.

We need to get it right:
• develop the protocols and tools necessary to manage the coronavirus risk,
• use our intelligence networks to identify the next virus threat early and act when we detect a threat – we do not need permission from anyone to protect Canada.
• curtail international travel when a threat is detected.
• make sure we have adequate medical supplies and protective equipment on hand to deal with an epidemic.
• have plans in place so that clinics, hospitals, personal care facilities, private and public workplaces have action plans to implement when an epidemic threat is detected not months later; and
• strengthen our laboratory and research facilities to ensure that we can create tests for a new virus quickly.

John Feldsted ... is a political commentator, consultant, and strategist. He makes his home in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nurses Take Job Action After Years of NDP Neglect

Image Credit:  BC Nurses Union BC nurses have reached a breaking point after years of unsafe conditions, rising violence in the workplace and a government that wouldn’t listen. Now they are on the picket line fighting to be heard. Last week, nurses began job action with a 72-hour strike notice, refusing non-essential overtime and stepping back from non-nursing duties. As of Tuesday, they have escalated to picket lines for the first time in decades. This moment was avoidable. It is the result of years of unanswered concerns from the frontline workers who keep our hospitals running. Nurses have been raising the same concerns for years: unsafe staffing levels, rising violence on the job, and a workload no single person should have to carry. None of it is new, and none of it should have taken a strike vote to get the government's attention. "Nurses are exercising their legal right to job action, but it shouldn’t have had to come to this," said Kiel Giddens, MLA for...
Post a Comment
Read more

British Columbians Still Don’t Know Who’s Paying for NDP’s BC Hydro Deal

The NDP is making billion-dollar promises with BC Hydro, but British Columbians still don’t know who will pay the bill. Last week’s memorandum of understanding isn’t what the federal government and the NDP are making it out to be. It’s an admission that the NDP failed to make the long-term investments needed to keep B.C. powered. Now British Columbians have serious questions about the cost and whether BC Hydro ratepayers will end up paying the price. David L. Williams, MLA for Salmon Arm-Shuswap and Shadow Minister for BC Hydro and Electrical Energy Development , said British Columbians deserve clear answers about the full implications of the Canada–British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement. “British Columbians deserve the full truth,” said Mr. Williams. “This multi-billion-dollar announcement does not answer who pays for cost overruns, who pays for new generation, who carries the risk if industrial customers do not materialize, or whether ratepayers will be forced ...
Post a Comment
Read more

NDP Government Blames Everyone but Themselves

The federal government has announced new measures to support British Columbia's forestry sector, including $65 million in funding for projects across the province. While any support is welcome, it falls far short of the level of assistance other provinces have secured for key industries. Conservative Forests Critic Ward Stamer says the NDP government needs to take responsibility for its mismanagement of B.C.’s forest industry instead of trying to pass on the blame. Despite promising to create more jobs in the forest sector, the NDP government has overseen the loss of thousands of forestry jobs and 21 mill closures which have devastated communities. “If Premier Eby spent more time addressing the regulatory issues impacting the forestry sector than he did complaining about the federal government, we would not be in the position we are now,” said Stamer. “And instead of trying to place the blame for mill closures on Donald Trump, Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar should t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more