Playing Russian roulette with restrictions, variants

Opinion

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This article was published 22/02/2021 (1664 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“Resurgence will happen really fast, so this is the time to be vigilant against the variants. We need to really be very cautious about easing public health measures at this time while vaccination is just beginning to accelerate.”

— Canada’s Chief Public Health officer Dr. Theresa Tam

 

Mixed messages continue to plague governments across Canada as public health officers caution on variants of COVID-19 while government officials set out to ease restrictions.

Provincial governments need to get behind the data its public health officers are bringing forward from around the globe where the variant is concerned.

With at least three provinces confirming community spread of the variants as of last week and more than 450 cases of the COVID variant in Canada to date, it would seem that public health officers are correct in stating that it’s not the right time to be easing up on restrictions.

Some provinces, such as British Columbia, are extending restrictions indefinitely, while in other provinces public health officers are urging caution on opening up more businesses or relaxing measures that are in place.

On Tuesday, Dr. Theresa Tam warned of relaxing restrictions too quickly as we start to see variants outpacing the original novel coronavirus in infection rates.

“Though we may feel tired and have all sorts of losses, collectively we cannot afford to take the brakes off,” she said.

Canada shouldn’t be playing Russian roulette with the virus, and need only look to countries such as Denmark or the U.K. when deciding the best course of action for Canadians.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported on Friday that just last week, researchers in Finland had discovered a variant they believe may evade conventional testing unless labs modify genetic protocols.

And we are seeing more and more mixed messaging as more businesses open up across the country while public health officials update what we understand about exposure times for variants.

Ontario had previously defined exposure as anyone who’d been within two metres of an infected person for at least 15 minutes who wasn’t wearing a mask. That province is now counting exposure for contacts with or without a mask and, with variants on the rise, some individual Ontario public health units are counting any contact of any duration as a possible exposure.

Toronto’s top public health official, Dr. Eileen de Villa, said Wednesday that she has “never been as concerned about the threat of COVID-19 to your health as I am now.

“By the time the confirmed case counts are big enough to shock us, it will be too late.”

Over the past month, the science has shown that the variants are more infectious and spread faster than the original SARS-COV-2. However, there doesn’t appear to be much of a change in the symptoms or death rates.

The world isn’t unfamiliar with mutations in viruses. Each year, the World Health Organization co-ordinates globally to determine which influenza immunization will be distributed to vaccinate against a particular strain, and the same will likely happen as vaccines are adjusted for COVID-19.

It is of utmost importance that countries across the globe co-ordinate to ensure outbreaks are controlled through restrictions, and continued adherence to health recommendations such as mask wearing, hand washing, social distancing and limiting the amount of time in public spaces.

However, federal warnings don’t seem to be making a difference to how the Manitoba government is making decisions.

Dr. Jazz Atwal, Manitoba’s deputy chief provincial public health officer, insisted at Friday’s COVID-19 update that Manitobans were doing a great job respecting the rules, even though it was reported that an international traveller infected with the B117 strain had 27 contacts to be traced.

“Just like our first cases of COVID-19, we need to learn to live with the virus and the variants of concern,” Atwal said on Friday, warning that if a variant did take hold, measures would be ramped up.

The province is doing some of the right things in response to the variant. It has strengthened isolation rules for suspected variant cases with a 24-day isolation for all household contacts.

We are all growing tired of the restrictions that have held us hostage this past year. However, Manitobans need to be prepared for the long haul while Canada plays catch-up with rapid testing should the variant take hold in the province.