Coronavirus guide: Updates and essential resources about the COVID-19 pandemic

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The latest

COVID-19 AROUND THE WORLD

• China: With triumphant music, hugs and celebrations, people began leaving Wuhan for the first time on Wednesday when a 76-day travel lockdown came to an end in the city where COVID-19 was first discovered. But as the “unsealing of Wuhan” reopened airports and highways, those who live there face new hardships from an invasive surveillance regime that officials have justified as a defence against a second wave of infections.
• United States: President Donald Trump has removed the inspector-general who was to oversee Washington’s US$2.3-trillion relief plan, in what congressional Democrats said was part of a “disturbing pattern of retaliation." Mr. Trump has sought increasingly direct control of the government response to the coronavirus, which has infected more people in the United States than any other country.
• Africa: National governments are cracking down on COVID-19 conspiracy theories, threatening criminal charges or imprisonment to those who spread them online. South Africa, Botswana and Kenya have all arrested or charged people for allegedly spreading false information on social media, but human-rights groups have said the measures are excessive and not effective in stopping fake news.

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COVID-19: THE NATIONAL PICTURE

• Relief needed: Unregulated, underpaid and mostly female personal support workers are now at the front lines of the COVID-19 fight in nursing homes, where some of the deadliest outbreaks are under way. Those workers and their unions are increasingly sounding the alarm about lack of protective gear and difficult conditions on the job.
• Relief coming: Ottawa is putting the finishing touches on legislation to give companies a 75-per-cent wage subsidy, and the draft bill, obtained by The Globe and Mail, would expand access beyond what was initially promised. Officials are also trying to finalize an interest-free loan program for small businesses, financial industry sources told The Globe.
• Resupply: Canadian companies are being enlisted to make as many as 30,000 ventilators for hospitals, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, and companies including Canada Goose and Arc’teryx are also retooling to make medical gowns. Mr. Trudeau didn’t offer a precise delivery schedule for these goods, but said ventilators were expected “in the coming weeks and months.”

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COVID-19: THE LOCAL PICTURE

• Quebec: Hospital admissions are expected to peak around April 18, but even in the most hopeful scenario, at least 1,263 people will die by the end of the month, according to provincial modelling released Tuesday. Quebec’s model uses Germany and Portugal’s death tolls as optimistic scenarios, but the pessimistic, Italian-style outcome would leave 9,000 dead.
• Alberta: The coronavirus will likely leave 25 per cent of Albertans unemployed, not including the effect of plummeting oil prices, Premier Jason Kenney said Tuesday as he prepared to announce Alberta’s modelling of deaths and infections on Wednesday. The province also widened its eligibility for tests, allowing any symptomatic person 65 or older to be tested, and banned most visits to long-term care homes to protect them from outbreaks.
• B.C.: Fire departments are urging the province’s top health official to reconsider an order restricting firefighters to only the most life-threatening medical calls, which has kept firefighters away from most overdose calls because they don’t qualify.

Essential resources

COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, has killed thousands of people around the world since early this year. Later in this guide, you’ll see an overview of how the world is mobilizing to stop its spread and save lives, but first, here are some essential links answering key questions about how all Canadians can help. The Globe and Mail has lifted its paywall on coronavirus-related news stories, so keep checking back at globeandmail.com to stay informed free of charge. We’ve also got a daily coronavirus newsletter.

• Are you feeling unwell? If you’ve got COVID-19-like symptoms (dry cough, fever and aches) or have just returned to Canada, you should self-isolate right away. Here’s what that means. Here are some primers on safety for seniors and parents caring for sick or quarantined children. There’s also a visual guide to self-isolation below in the “how do I flatten the curve?" section.
• Are you distancing? “Physical distancing” means minimizing close contact with others, not the 14-day self-isolation required for sick people and travellers. Generally, it means staying home unless absolutely necessary, but every province and territory has its own set of evolving rules for what that looks like in practice. Here are primers on good foods and supplies to stock, what cleaning products and methods are most effective, and tips on good exercise and mental-health habits.
• Are you home yet? If you’re still overseas and have no symptoms, the Canadian government wants you to come home now and self-isolate immediately. Don’t stop for groceries first; go straight home. As of March 26, returnees refusing self-isolation can face six-figure fines or prison time under the federal Quarantine Act.
• Are you getting the right information? Rumours and hoaxes can run rampant during crises, which is dangerous to public health. Stick to the facts as communicated by agencies like the World Health Organization, the Public Health Agency of Canada or your provincial health authority. If you need pointers on how to spot misinformation, try this media literacy quiz The Globe prepared in 2017.
• Are you scared? Being afraid is understandable in these circumstances, but preparation (which is helpful) and panic (which isn’t) aren’t the same. Then again, many experts say telling people not to panic isn’t helpful, because they generally don’t in crises. Here, columnist André Picard looks at tips from a risk-communications researcher on how to assuage fears. Mr. Picard has also been answering reader questions as the pandemic continues; e-mail here if you have questions too.

What we know so far about the disease

Symptoms

The new illness that emerged last December in China – officially called COVID-19, previously known as 2019-nCoV – is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Corona means “crown” or “halo” in Latin, describing the viruses’ typical shape when seen under an electron microscope. The common cold is a type of coronaviral illness, but it tends to cause nasal congestion, which COVID-19 doesn’t always do. COVID-19′s symptoms (dry coughing, fever and aches) resemble more serious and dangerous coronaviruses, like SARS and MERS. Initially the symptoms can also look like flu, which is caused by a different virus type, but don’t let the similarity fool you: COVID-19 is far more dangerous (more on that below).

How COVID-19 CAN KILL YOU

COVID-19′s death rate varies considerably from country to country and among age groups, but even conservative estimates put it tens of times higher than seasonal influenza (0.1 per cent), though generally lower than SARS (10 per cent). The graphics below offer a step-by-step explanation of COVID-19′s lethal effects on the body in severe cases.

Transmission

Though SARS had a higher death rate than COVID-19, it infected and killed far fewer people (8,098 infections and 774 deaths worldwide, according to the U.S. CDC’s estimates). One possible reason for this is that unlike SARS, whose carriers generally knew they were sick, the new coronavirus may be transmissible before symptoms develop, according to one analysis by Canadian and international scientists. On average, it takes about five days for people infected with COVID-19 to show symptoms, according to a U.S.-based team’s estimates published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. SARS’s incubation period was longer, about 10 days.

Testing

Health officials in Canada and other countries have a test to make sure whether a patient has COVID-19 or some other illness. Depending on where you live in Canada, these may be available either at dedicated clinics or in at-home visits from health officials. If you start showing the symptoms of COVID-19, contact your local health authority or family doctor and do as they advise.

Where has it spread?

Every province had reported at least one coronavirus case by March 15, and infection numbers continue to rise. Many more Canadians have fallen sick on cruise ships overseas, such as the Diamond Princess off the Japanese coast and the Grand Princess off California.

What Canada has done

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Physical distancing

Various governments have introduced new limits on public assembly and events since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in mid-March.

• Public gatherings: Provincial governments have used state-of-emergency powers to limit public assemblies to as few or two people, or banned them entirely, and will use fines or other penalties to enforce that.
• Essential businesses: Most provinces have issued lists of businesses deemed “essential” and barred others from operating, except as work-from-home or e-commerce operations. Grocery stores, pharmacies and restaurant takeout or delivery are still permitted, but dine-in restaurant service is closed.
• Schools: All provincial governments have closed their K-12 public school systems for the foreseeable future.

Travel restrictions

• International travel: The United States and Canada suspended non-essential border traffic, except for essential supply chains, on March 20. Canada had already barred most non-American foreign nationals from entering and restricted international air travel to the airports in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. Canadians abroad are urged to come home and self-isolate for 14 days, but only if they’re asymptomatic: Airlines will refuse passage to anyone showing COVID-19 symptoms.
• Interprovincial and intercity travel: Getting on a train, plane or bus is being increasingly discouraged, and in some cases blocked. The Atlantic provinces’ measures require most people entering, even from other parts of Canada, to self-isolate for 14 days, and the Northwest Territories has closed its borders except to essential supply chains and labour. Under Transport Canada rules that took effect on March 30, airline and railway staff will screen passengers on domestic flights or intercity trains and bar them from boarding if they have COVID-19 symptoms.
• Public transit: Some local transit agencies, like OC Transpo in Ottawa, have made service free but added safeguards to separate riders from each other and from drivers. The Toronto Transit Commission has made service free for those who normally pay with cash, but Presto card users are still encouraged to tap on entry.

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Hospitals on alert

Front-line health workers have been stepping up preparations for a possible pandemic since February, making sure they have the supplies and resources they need for surges in demand. Ontario also revised its safety protocols for health-care staff as new evidence emerged about the virus’s spread: They are now focusing on “droplet precautions” like surgical masks, gowns and gloves, and not the less-effective safeguards against airborne transmission they had been using before.

To boost hospitals’ supplies of ventilators and other equipment, a federal emergency bill has revised the Patent Act to allow auto-parts makers to retool their factories and produce patented medical items.

Federal economic relief

Through mid-March, the Trudeau government’s stimulus measures grew to an $82-billion plan of “direct support” and tax deferrals that Ottawa has continued to add to. The measures include:

• A $2,000-a-month, 16-week emergency benefit to pay workers whose income drops to zero, even if they have been furloughed by employers but technically still have jobs.
• A three-month wage subsidy for businesses, initially 10 per cent but later raised to 75 per cent. Businesses of any size, including charities and non-profits, are eligible if they can show a 30-per-cent revenue drop or more.
• GST and HST payments deferred to June.
• Federal tax deadlines extended to June for filing and August for payment.

Customer relief

Canada’s major telecom companies have tried to help physical distancing along by lifting data limits, waiving roaming fees or offering flexible-payment options. Banks are also offering financial-relief options or waiving fees for those whose income has been disrupted, though they are also limiting hours and closing some branches so they can continue to operate safely.

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Safety at work and home

An increasing number of Canadian technology companies have encouraged staff to work from home and avoid all but essential travel, and the heads of 30 of the largest Canadian companies wrote an open letter urging more businesses to do the same.

Safety in communities

Volunteer groups and local businesses have been organizing on social media to help those most affected by self-enforced isolation, such as by running errands or providing food. Poverty advocates are also stressing the need for better protection of vulnerable people who are homeless or in high-risk social housing.

The shifting epicentre: Wuhan to Milan to New York

Since the virus emerged last year, three countries – China, then Italy, then the United States – have taken turns as the most infected ones on the planet. Here’s how their governments have responded.

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China

Last December, authorities in Hubei province initially dismissed warnings of a new virus, and even punished the Wuhan ophthalmologist who tried to sound the alarm. But within weeks, when the outbreak was spreading fast, China put millions of people in Wuhan and its environs under near-total quarantine, just as the Lunar New Year travel season was getting under way. Chinese lawmakers also banned the trade and consumption of wild animal meat, the suspected source of the virus. As the quarantines brought China’s economy to a standstill, local governments faced conflicting demands to bring people back to work but still prevent the spread of COVID-19. In March, after the number of new Chinese cases levelled off, travel restrictions in Hubei began to lift.

The Globe in China: Read the latest reports from Nathan VanderKlippe

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Italy

COVID-19 hit northern Italy’s Lombardy region fast and hard in February after hospital staff failed to isolate a super-carrier who visited them several times. Soon, Italy had hundreds of cases, then thousands, and many countries across Europe and Africa traced their first COVID-19 cases back to the Italian epidemic. After local quarantines and the closing of schools and universities failed to stop the virus’s spread, by early March, the Italian government put Lombardy under a total lockdown – measures that were soon extended nationwide, affecting 62 million Italians. The quarantine requires most Italians to stay home, prohibits public assembly and non-essential travel and closes pools, theatres and sporting events. Additional measures announced on March 11 also closed all stores except groceries and pharmacies. Soon, Spain, France and the Czech Republic instituted Italian-style quarantine measures and other European nations were considering them.

The Globe in Italy: Read the latest reports from Eric Reguly

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United States

Through February and early March, U.S. President Donald Trump, who is up for re-election later this year, generally told Americans that they were not at great risk from COVID-19 and economic activities should go on as normal. He also contradicted public health officials on everything from the virus’s fatality rate to the risks posed by workers who come in sick. Meanwhile, U.S. health officials performed far fewer tests than other jurisdictions, including Canada. Under mounting pressure to act, Mr. Trump declared a national state of emergency and prodded Congress to pass three relief packages, the latest of which is worth more than US$2.2-trillion. Though he suggested (without evidence) that the economic harm of physical distancing could be deadlier than the disease and that the measures should lift by mid-April, Mr. Trump eventually reconsidered and extended the voluntary nationwide shutdown until April 30. Soon, the U.S. infection toll was the largest of any country, with Mr. Trump’s home city of New York the hardest-hit of all.

The Globe in Washington: Read the latest reports from Adrian Morrow

How do I ‘flatten the curve’?

When diseases reach uninfected populations, a graph of the new infections will generally follow a curve: Infections rise, then peak, then fall. You’ll see a lot of officials talk about “flattening the curve,” or preventing the peak infections from exceeding their health systems’ ability to handle them. A big part of this is social distancing: Avoiding public gatherings, staying home from work or school and changing social habits, like touching elbows instead of shaking hands. If front-line health workers are spared from a sudden and overwhelming increase in new cases, lives will be saved. And when the pandemic is over, those workers will be better-equipped to act once there’s a vaccine available for the new disease, like the one researchers are racing to develop for COVID-19.

More reading

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Coronavirus-related cancellations sweep across Canadian cultural scene

From James Bond to bust: Why the coronavirus might kill the movie business as we know it

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On the science

Ivan Semeniuk explains: New coronavirus tests scientists’ ability to tangle with an evolutionary trickster

Race is on as coalition sets tight timeline for coronavirus vaccine

A brief history of plague panic, from the 1600s to today’s coronavirus crisis

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Compiled by Globe staff

With reports from Carly Weeks, Kelly Grant, Wency Leung, Ivan Semeniuk, Andrea Woo, Jeff Gray, Eric Atkins, Patrick Brethour, Robert Fife, Marieke Walsh, Bill Curry, Nathan VanderKlippe, Eric Reguly, Paul Waldie, The Associated Press, Reuters and The Canadian Press