100 signatures reached
To: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau & the Premiers of every Province and Territory
CRITICAL: Lockdown Canada Immediately to Stop Coronavirus
Justin Trudeau and Premiers: Implement an immediate, mandatory, Canada-wide national lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, together with every province, territory, and local municipality.
This means closing all non-essential businesses, restricting travel, and ensuring that people stay home and avoid contact as much as possible. There is no time to waste: every day we wait will cost lives.
If enough of us speak out right now we can pressure the federal and provincial governments into implementing a mandatory national lockdown that will save lives, and could prevent our health care system from collapsing at the time we need it most.
Why is this important?
The novel coronavirus COVID-19 is now a global pandemic with over 300,000 confirmed cases, and 13,000 dead.[1]
In Italy, the country now hardest hit by the virus, the medical system has been crippled. So many people are critically ill that there simply aren't enough intensive care beds or ventilators to keep people struggling to breathe alive. Doctors have been left with the horrendous task of having to decide... who gets to live, and who is left to die, often alone.[2]
Governments across Canada are closing schools, restaurants, and public facilities, and encouraging everyone to practice social isolation to curb the spread of the disease.[3] Many people are isolating and practicing social distancing during essential trips out to get groceries and medicine. But the stark reality is that too many people are simply not taking this threat seriously.[4]
With the exception of essential services such as food, utilities and health care, everyone must stay home. An immediate national lockdown will make sure people take this threat seriously, and we have NO time to waste.
Social distancing is our best defence against COVID-19. If we can "flatten the curve" and slow the spread of the virus, fewer people will need critical care all at once.[5] If not, the situation in Italy shows us what will happen: people will die by the thousands.
Experts agree. Dr. Michael Warner, medical director of critical care at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto, says Canada “should have enforced a mandatory lockdown from coast to coast a while ago”, and doctors at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster just wrote a dire letter to BC chief medical officer Dr Bonnie Henry, warning that we are on the same trajectory as Italy and that we “must close non-essential businesses, and enforce the critical need for social distancing so that the health care system is not overwhelmed.”[6,7,8,9]
The lack of mass testing makes the true scale of the crisis in Canada unknown. This is the most critical moment for us to act, right now, while we still have a chance at preventing the virus from bringing our healthcare system to its knees.
Sources:
[1] Map of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Global Cases [John Hopkins University]
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
[2] 'A generation has died': Italian province struggles to bury its coronavirus dead [Guardian]
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/19/generation-has-died-italian-province-struggles-bury-coronavirus-dead
[3] Coronavirus: Here's what's happening in Canada and around the world on Saturday [CBC]
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/coronavirus-covid19-canada-world-march21-1.5505520
[4] "Call people out:" Dr. Bonnie Henry wants us to get serious about social distancing [Daily Hive]
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/dr-bonnie-henry-social-distancing-coronavirus
[5] Flattening the Coronavirus Curve [New York Times]
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/science/coronavirus-curve-mitigation-infection.html
[6] Canada should be on lockdown to stop COVID-19 spread, doctor warns [CBC]
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1714164803998
[7] COVID-19: Doctors push for lockdown, warn B.C. could become like Italy [Vancouver Sun]
https://vancouversun.com/news/covid-19-doctors-urge-b-c-government-to-take-more-drastic-measures/
[8] ‘We need to do more’: Fraser Health doctors send dire letter to Dr. Bonnie Henry [Abbotsford News]
https://www.abbynews.com/news/we-need-to-do-more-fraser-health-doctors-send-to-dire-letter-to-dr-bonnie-henry/
[9] A letter to Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, from doctors at the Royal Columbia Hospital in New Westminster
https://www.scribd.com/document/452662584/Letter-from-doctors-1
https://www.scribd.com/document/452662585/Letter-from-doctors-2