COVID-19 Measures Expected to Last Until Summer
As Canadian’s are already well into their social distancing and preventative measures amid the COVID-19 crisis, the question on everyone’s mind is as to when this will all end. As numbers are spiking every day and Canada’s COVID-19 cases now over 11,000 as of April 3rd, the government officials say, we are far from the end of this. The simple answer is, we are expecting to be continuing our preventative measures for months.
Projections
It is too soon to say for sure, and government officials have been careful to avoid setting a date in stone with the media, but most recent estimates go as far as June at least. Unfortunately, even that estimate could fall apart depending on how the country continues to respond to this pandemic.
As officials state, there are many different potential projections in the length of this crisis, and the preventative measures of social distancing. Dates can change dramatically depending on how strictly the preventative measures are implemented and followed by all of us. Slowing the spread of the virus is paramount to seeing the end of this pandemic, and it is otherwise impossible to predict when it could end for certain.
Additionally, the federal government is planning for Canadian’s to be staying home through April. The Canada Revenue Agency has sent out a notice to employees to inform that the order of those considered to be “non-essential” businesses to stay home has been unsurprisingly extended to May 1st from it’s previous April 5th projection.
Official Warnings
Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada’s Deputy Chief Public Health Officer, has warned Canadian’s that we will be in it “for the long haul.” Meanwhile, Trudeau is reported as estimating that these preventative measures are going to be in place, not weeks, but definitely months. All of this, as everything, is dependant on how Canadian’s choose to act in regards to Social Distancing and choosing only to leave their homes if absolutely necessary.
Justin Trudeau said the following in regards to the end of these COVID-19 measures. “There are obviously many, many different projections of how long this could last, how serious this could be, how many cases we could be facing. But those projections all hinge on choices that Canadians are making today, choices they made over the past few days, choices they will be making over the coming few days,”
As well, according to the federal government, the ban on air travel into Canada by foreign nationals is expected to extend until at least June 30th. This is all to hopefully slow the spreading of the novel coronavirus, as provinces all over Canada have started to declare states of emergencies.
Essentially, we are not anywhere near the end of all of this yet. Be prepared to be social distancing into the summer. There may be no official date of when this will all be over, but as all sources have estimated, we are really in this for the long haul.