What is the rationale? What are the next steps?

RATIONALE

As of February 4, in Canada, over 96.5% of our over 20,500 deaths have been in seniors, over the age of 60, with multiple comorbidities. That is over 19,780 deaths. Over 80% of the deaths in the first wave occurred in long term care homes. Canada could have saved over 15,000 lives, while negating the need to lock down business and spend over $240 Bn to force over 8 million healthy Canadians to stay at home. Canada did not need to follow the failed lock down practice of China or Europe. We knew who was most at risk and had time to quarantine our seniors in LTC homes.

Our leaders and Medial Officers of Health (MOH) constantly tell us we are in danger of overwhelming our medical system. If we had acted to quarantine our senior’s long term care facilities and protected others with severe co-morbidities, our hospital capacity would not have been challenged, as 71% of our hospital beds and 64% of our ICU capacity continue to this day to be filled with compromised seniors. Our MOH should have developed new surge capacity in both staff and medical infrastructure. Instead, we stopped other medical procedures. We should never have forced healthy medical staff to self-isolate. We should have made Rapid testing a priority for all orders of government.  It still is not a priority.

Ignoring our long-established and hard learned Emergency Management pandemic response goals and following a failed lockdown response has caused massive collateral damage in terms of deaths and long-term effects on our population. Collateral damage, largely ignored by mainstream media, includes but is not limited to, massive damage to our Social Fabric, our Mental health, our other severe Health Conditions, our Children’s education, and our Economy (visit the Resources page on this website).

NEXT STEPS – A WAY FORWARD IN EIGHT STEPS

It is time to stop following a daily case-count-based lockdown approach that is causing massive death and destruction. A long-term sustainable way ahead is recommended as follows:

1. Release a comprehensive written Pandemic Plan, led by the Provincial EMO, showing what is to be done by phase, triggers for moving between phases, and what the public’s vital role is in each phase.
2. Vigorously enact a plan to protect our most vulnerable (those over age 60 with multiple co-morbidities).
3. Ensure all critical infrastructure (including but not limited to hospitals) is ready for people who get sick and who need to take sick days.
4. Remove the fear campaign from the media and promote confidence-based messaging (see Annex A). This needs a PLAN and will not be easy. Governments’ daily facts must be given with context and denominators. See Annex A.
5. End all talk of future lock downs and loosen social distancing rules.
6. Guarantee to keep schools and day cares open, with relaxed social distancing.
7. Get everyone under 65 without pre-existing compromised immune systems, who can and want to work, fully back to work.
8. Continue to vaccinate as vaccines become available, for the current strain of Covid 19.

BACKGROUND - PANDEMIC ALTERNATIVE WORKING GROUP

The Pandemic Alternative Working Group was formed to review the Canadian Provincial and Federal response to COVID-19 and to assist in forming a best practices approach to resolving this ongoing Public Emergency.

It is recognized that Governments are trying to work and act in the best interests of all citizens and is open to adjusting their plan forward with new knowledge and new approaches.