Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 4, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A4 A 4 THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2020 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMNEWS I COVID-19 PANDEMIC 4% Manitoba declares state of emergency Easter weekend Phase one of reopening C<$$# C2$# $# 2$# <$$# Feb 24 March 9 23 April 6 :$ May 4 <) 9B!G < Change in number of visits compared to baseline. Manitoba highlighted in blue. How social distancing affected grocery and pharmacy visits across Canada 6",,"ED? A@DD E@D>> / >F;@+D% ?FF?4D +F8"(C<& +F00;,"=H 0F-"4"=H @DEF@=> 5-1>D4",D% 0D("1, 814;D 91, 7'AD- .* :$:$3 -45% Manitoba declares state of emergency Easter weekend Phase one of reopening C<$$# C2$# $# 2$# <$$# Feb 24 March 9 23 April 6 :$ May 4 <) 9B!G < Change in number of visits compared to baseline. Manitoba highlighted in blue. How social distancing affected visits to transit facilities across Canada 6",,"ED? A@DD E@D>> / >F;@+D% ?FF?4D +F8"(C<& +F00;,"=H 0F-"4"=H @DEF@=> 5-1>D4",D% 0D("1, 814;D 91, 7'AD- .* :$:$3 I F anyone still doubts whether Can-ada made the right choice in shut-ting down schools, daycares and most businesses to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, they need look no further than Sweden. The Scandinavian country has one of the highest death rates from COVID-19 in the world, after keeping most of its schools and businesses open during the pandemic. Sweden’s chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, still supports the prin- ciple of avoiding a complete economic shutdown, but he now says the coun- try could have done more to limit the spread of the disease. “If we were to run into the same disease, knowing exactly what we know about it today, I think we would end up doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done,” Tegnell said in a recent interview. As of Tuesday, Sweden had set a pace of 443 confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people. It is lower than the mortality rate in hard-hit countries such as Spain and Italy and the United Kingdom, but it’s still eighth-highest in the world. Meanwhile, Canada’s COVID-19 death rate per million people was at 195. By keeping bars and restaurants open and allowing children to attend school, Sweden took a different ap- proach than most countries. While so- cial-distancing measures were recom- mended and large gatherings banned, life went on close to normal, even as the COVID-19 death toll mounted. Tegnell hoped by sheltering the most vulnerable from the virus, including the elderly, most of the economy could remain open (an approach espoused by some critics in Canada and many fac- tions in the United States). It failed. It was a costly and danger- ous experiment. About half of Sweden’s deaths thus far were elderly people living in long-term care facilities. “We have to admit that when it comes to elderly care and the spread of infec- tion, that has not worked,” Tegnell said. “Too many old people have died here.” Bjorn Olsen, professor of infec- tious medicine at Uppsala University, was more blunt, calling his country’s approach to the pandemic “one of Sweden’s biggest embarrassments and most tragic events.” Most countries were not prepared to take such a gamble, even with the possibility a soft shutdown could help avoid economic ruin. Sweden didn’t even benefit from that aspect. While its economic decline is expected to be slightly less severe than in neighbouring Norway and Finland (both of which implemented stricter lockdowns), Sweden is still projecting a seven per cent decline in GDP this year. Some areas of Canada have been harder-hit by the COVID-19 outbreak than others, including Montreal and Toronto, where mortality rates from the disease are higher than the national av- erage. But had Canada taken the same approach as Sweden, its death toll would probably have doubled (or worse). The success of the temporary shut- down is clearly evident in Manitoba. The province continues to see very low infection numbers, including a COVID-19 death rate of only 0.5 per 100,000 people. Manitoba is an easier jurisdiction to manage than large, congested centres with incoming international flights, but actions taken by the province (and buy- in from the public) have also helped. Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, attributes the low numbers mostly to geography and timing (the virus arrived late in Manitoba). He doesn’t take much credit himself, but his office deserves praise. The timing of when and what to shut down, including schools and daycares, and the focus on increased testing and contact tracing have been critical. When small outbreaks have occurred (such as a cluster in Brandon, or the handful linked to temporary foreign workers in the Southern Health region) testing and contact tracing have been swift and ef- fective, stopping the virus in its tracks. That’s good public health. Locking down the economy for two months was extremely costly, but it was the right thing to do. The failed ex- periment in Sweden is strong evidence of that. tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca TOM BRODBECK OPINION BEFORE the expected second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hits, Can- adians could prepare by lobbying for improved grief services to deal with the anticipated deaths, suggests the executive director of the Winnipeg- based Canadian Virtual Hospice. “We’re still looking at a gap, and there’s definitely a need” to bolster ser- vices, said Shelly Cory. “Everything we’ve heard about the second wave means that we need to be proactive in getting these services up and ready.” Last month, the Canadian Virtual Hospice and the Canadian Grief Alli- ance asked the federal government for a $100-million investment in grief sup- ports over three years and $10 million dedicated to research. The two groups were scheduled to meet Wednesday with representatives from the office of Health Minister Patty Hajdu. Cory is urging Winnipeggers to write letters supporting improved grief ser- vices, especially in light of losses from COVID-19, via the hospice website (www.virtualhospice.ca). While grief is mostly associated with the death of a family member, many people are also experiencing pandem- ic-related grief from losses around rou- tines, shuttered workplaces and can- celled recreational events, said Glen Horst, spiritual care adviser to the vir- tual hospice. “I think the whole society is going through a grieving process,” he said. “We’re watching things slip away and we don’t know if we’re going to recover them.” The five-person organization, with offices at Riverview Health Centre, serves about 2.1 million people a year through learning modules and re- sources on websites mygrief.ca and kidsgrief.ca. The hospice’s nine Eng- lish and French platforms have seen about 70 per cent more traffic in recent months, said Cory. “We know there are more people grieving. People are grieving in virtual isolation,” she said. Extra resources from government could increase staff positions at Pallia- tive Manitoba to train and support more volunteers running its grief phone line, which has had a 40 per cent increase in calls since the beginning of the pandemic, said executive director Jennifer Gurke. Volunteers commit themselves to calling clients weekly for an hour-long conversation to offer compassion and support. “Grief is more complicated with the pandemic,” she said. “People feel more isolated, they feel more alone, they don’t have people to reach out to.” Gurke said the organization is facing a revenue loss of $63,000 due to can- celled fundraising events, a hit of 12 per cent to its annual budget of about $500,000. Horst said delaying funerals or lim- iting them to immediate family dur- ing the pandemic also increases isola- tion, since the community surrounding a grieving family cannot reach out through the usual rituals. Livestream- ing funeral or memorial services can help, but technology can’t replace the sense of a community grieving together. “It’s the neighbour, it’s the casual acquaintance, it’s the work colleague and the cottage neighbour who are all robbed of paying their respects,” said Horst. faith@freepress.mb.ca A S the provincial government moves into Phase 2 of reopen-ing during the coronavirus pandemic, new data show Mani- tobans continue to find themselves in the middle of the pack when it comes to physical distancing in Canada. Internet search engine company Google has released its latest batch of data tracking what Canadians have been up to — and where they’ve been going — as lockdown measures have been implemented throughout the country. To compile the research, Google used location data — as well as its own repository of information — to track percentage changes in move- ment across the country. The base- line average was culled from January to early February, before widespread physical-distancing directives went into effect. Google’s COVID-19 Com- munity Mobility Report covers the period from Feb. 15 through May 25. The data indicate things are — in many respects — slowly returning to normal in Manitoba. Trips to parks and outdoor spaces have been a crucial resource for Can- adians living through the public health measures, according to the data — and Manitoba was no exception. Manitoba registered a 94 per cent jump in visits to parks and other outdoor recreation spaces over its January baseline in the latest batch of data. The spike is likely the result of warm spring weather and the loos- ening of lockdown measures. The data indicate that when people are not at home they are mostly spending time outside, which is good news for public health officials, as re- search indicates the virus is less like- ly to spread outdoors. These insights could help planners and policy-makers who are currently preparing for potential future out- breaks of COVID-19. Visits to transit facilities continue to remain very low in Manitoba, registering 50 per cent below aver- age during the pandemic’s first three months. The latest data indicate transit use is 45 per cent below the baseline with few signs of recovery in sight. Manitobans also appear to be mak- ing consistent weekend visits to their workplaces, which is potentially explained by people going to pick up supplies or equipment when it is expected fewer co-workers will be present. On the whole, workplace visits are down 38 per cent from the baseline average, while overall time spent at home is 12 per cent above baseline. Visits to retail and recreation lo- cations are returning to normal at a slow and steady pace. A week before Phase 2 of reopening began Monday, visits to those locations registered 12 per cent below the baseline average. However, there was a spike in vis- its to retail and recreation during the Easter long weekend, which regis- tered a 30 per cent increase. Visits to grocery stores and pharmacies also jumped 60 per cent. At a time when the public was still being told to practise physical distan- cing, the province’s shopping rules forced people to visit many of those locations over the course of two days, instead of spreading the congestion over four. As a result, mobility data for Manitobans fluctuated wildly by 80 percentage points throughout the long weekend. On April 9, the day before Good Friday, the mobility rate registered 21 per cent above the baseline aver- age. Meanwhile, the rates for Good Friday and Easter Sunday were 63 per cent below the baseline. As has been seen throughout the pandemic, the latest data places Manitoba in the middle of the pack when compared to other Canadian provinces. ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca michael.pereira@freepress.mb.ca Google data tracking shows Manitobans adjusting back to normal life Great outdoors offers great escape RYAN THORPE AND MICHAEL PEREIRA BRENDA SUDERMAN Grief service advocates seek more funds amid rising needs Learning from the failure of Sweden’s experiment JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES When Manitobans aren’t home, new research suggests they are mostly spending time outside. Visits to recreation and retail locations are returning to normal at a slow, steady pace. A_04_Jun-04-20_FP_01.indd A4 2020-06-03 10:07 PM ;