/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/WVEU5NTHSZJ6VASP3RN47XBWYQ.JPG)
London, May 14: A host cleans a pod of the London Eye observation wheel ahead of a new relaxation of British COVID-19 restrictions next week. All restaurants, bars, theatres and museums are allowed to reopen with some precautions as of Monday.
Peter Cziborra/Reuters/Reuters
- Essential resources
- What does this virus do?
- How do I ‘flatten the curve’?
- More reading
Table of contents
The latest
THE NATIONAL AND GLOBAL PICTURE
- Vaccines: Every Canadian province has put first doses of AstraZeneca on pause due to concerns about the blood-clot disorder VITT, but the rest of the world can’t afford to do the same, global health experts warn. The drug, which doesn’t need to be frozen in shipping or storage, is the “workhorse” vaccine for countries without domestic capacity, and VITT is so rare that it’s still poorly understood.
- Politics: Vaccine hesitancy is in decline globally, but people in many places, including Canada, have gotten more unhappy with governments’ COVID-19 responses over the past year, a new Imperial College London study of 29 countries has found. The percentage who said Canada handled COVID-19 “very well” or “somewhat well” fell from 77 per cent last June to 58 per cent last month.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/X6XBULUPBJNLNH65PTKPC3YCTQ.jpg)
Montreal, May 13: Health-care workers prepare Pfizer doses at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic.
Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
THE LOCAL PICTURE
- Quebec: How did Montreal, which was hit hard by earlier waves of the pandemic, manage to mostly avoid the third one? It’s not so much a miracle as a mystery, Quebec reporter Les Perreaux explains: Contract tracing, high immunity levels and curfews are all factors experts are considering.
- Ontario: “We can’t rush to reopen,” Premier Doug Ford said Thursday as he extended the provincewide stay-at-home order to at least June 2. Ontario’s top doctor said earlier this week that the order shouldn’t be lifted until daily cases are “well below” 1,000 a day; Thursday’s total was 2,759.
Essential resources
COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, has killed more than three million people around the world since early 2020. Later in this guide, you’ll see an overview of how the virus works and how it kills, but first, here are some essential links answering key questions about how all Canadians can stay safe from it. We also have a daily coronavirus newsletter.
- Are you feeling unwell? If you’ve got COVID-19-like symptoms (dry cough, fever and aches), 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, and wearing masks in public settings, like stores or transit, where you can’t keep a distance of more than two metres from other people. But every province and territory has its own set of evolving rules for what distancing looks like in practice. If you’re staying home, here are primers on good foods and supplies to stock and tips on good exercise and mental-health habits.
- Are you being vaccinated? Since December, provinces have been vaccinating different age cohorts of people using one of several drugs Health Canada has approved for use. Check our guide to the rollout plans by province. Our main data page is updated every evening with the number of vaccinations administered in Canada so far.
- 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.
What we know about the disease
Symptoms and spread
The illness that emerged in December, 2019, 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 typical 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).
SARS-CoV-2 can come in several varieties, and while the symptoms are the same for all of them so far, newer forms like B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 spread more easily through droplets in the air. Some mutations let them more easily slip past the human immune system.
Human coronaviruses most commonly spread from an infected person to others through:
The air by coughing and sneezing
Close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands
Touching the eyes, nose or mouth after touching an infected surface
Rarely, fecal contamination
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF THE VIRUS?
Headache
Dry cough
Fever
In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE VIRUS
Belongs to large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from common cold to more severe diseases such as MERS and SARS
Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people
There are no specific treatments for coronaviruses, but symptoms can be treated
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Canada, WHO
Human coronaviruses most commonly spread from an infected person to others through:
The air by coughing and sneezing
Close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands
Touching the eyes, nose or mouth after touching an infected surface
Rarely, fecal contamination
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF THE VIRUS?
Headache
Dry cough
Fever
In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE VIRUS
Belongs to large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from common cold to more severe diseases such as MERS and SARS
Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people
There are no specific treatments for coronaviruses, but symptoms can be treated
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Canada, WHO
Human coronaviruses most commonly spread from an infected person to others through:
The air by coughing and sneezing
Close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands
Touching the eyes, nose or mouth after touching an infected surface
Rarely, fecal
contamination
COMMON SIGNS OF INFECTION
Headache
In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death
Dry cough
Fever
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE VIRUS
Belongs to large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from common cold to more severe diseases such as MERS and SARS
Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people
There are no specific treatments for coronaviruses, but symptoms can be treated
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Canada, WHO
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.
VIRUS
The virus enters the lungs and attaches itself to cells which make up the lungs’ protective lining.
CELLS
RNA
RECEPTOR
VIRUS
Once attached to a cell’s receptor, the virus injects its RNA into the cell, providing it with the blueprint to build copies of the virus.
IMMUNE
CELL
INFECTED
DEAD
The infected cell eventually self-destructs, releasing the virus to infect neighbouring cells. Exponential growth in infected cells triggers an excessive response by the immune system. Immune cells sent to fight the virus begin to destroy both infected and healthy cells.
ALVEOLI
BACTERIA
BACTERIAL
INFECTION
If enough of the protective lining is destroyed, it leaves the alveoli – the tiny air sacs via which breathing occurs – vulnerable to bacterial infection. This can lead to severe respiratory problems, making mechanical ventilation necessary to help the patient survive.
The immune system can become overwhelmed while the bacteria multiply. If bacteria enter the blood, they can overrun the body and cause death.
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: KURZGESAGT
VIRUS
The virus enters the lungs and attaches itself to the cells that make up the protective lining of the lungs.
CELLS
RNA
RECEPTOR
VIRUS
Once attached to a cell’s receptor, the virus injects its RNA into the cell, providing it with the blueprint to build copies of the virus.
IMMUNE
CELL
INFECTED
DEAD
The infected cell eventually self-destructs, releasing the virus to infect neighbouring cells. Exponential growth in infected cells triggers an excessive response by the immune system. Immune cells sent to fight the virus begin to destroy both infected and healthy cells.
ALVEOLI
BACTERIA
BACTERIAL
INFECTION
If enough of the protective lining is destroyed, it leaves the alveoli – the tiny air sacs via which breathing occurs – vulnerable to bacterial infection. This can lead to severe respiratory problems, making mechanical ventilation necessary to help the patient survive.
The immune system can become overwhelmed while the bacteria multiply. If bacteria enter the blood, they can overrun the body and cause death.
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: KURZGESAGT
VIRUS
The virus enters the lungs and attaches itself to the cells that make up the protective lining of the lungs.
CELLS
RNA
RECEPTOR
VIRUS
Once attached to a cell’s receptor, the virus injects its RNA into the cell, providing it with the blueprint to build copies of the virus.
IMMUNE
CELL
INFECTED
DEAD
The infected cell eventually self-destructs, releasing the virus to infect neighbouring cells. Exponential growth in infected cells triggers an excessive response by the immune system. Immune cells sent to fight the virus begin to destroy both infected and healthy cells.
ALVEOLI
BACTERIA
BACTERIAL
INFECTION
If enough of the protective lining is destroyed, it leaves the alveoli – the tiny air sacs via which breathing occurs – vulnerable to bacterial infection. This can lead to severe respiratory problems, making mechanical ventilation necessary to help the patient survive.
The immune system can become overwhelmed while the bacteria multiply. If bacteria enter the blood, they can overrun the body and cause death.
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: KURZGESAGT
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 reason for this is that, whereas SARS carriers generally knew they were sick, carriers of the new coronavirus can be contagious before symptoms develop. Some people may recover from COVID-19 without ever knowing they were infected, and don’t realize until later that they spread the virus to others. And more contagious variants of the regular virus can spread even faster, though they’re not necessarily more harmful or resistant to vaccination.
Testing
Health officials in Canada and other countries have a variety of tests to make sure whether a patient has COVID-19 or some other illness. Getting a test in person generally involves a health professional taking a sample from inside your nasal cavity using a swab. Depending on where you live in Canada, tests 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.
Prevention
So far, Health Canada has approved vaccines from four drug makers that are fully effective in preventing severe illness: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Ottawa has purchased millions of doses of those drugs and others in development. Provincial and federal governments are still working through their vaccine rollout plans through 2021. Check our vaccination data page to see how many doses have been administered in your province or territory so far.
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. Until enough of Canada’s population is vaccinated to reach herd immunity, much of this comes down to physical distancing: Avoiding public gatherings, staying home from work or school and changing social habits, like waving instead of shaking hands. If front-line health workers are spared from a sudden and overwhelming increase in new cases, lives will be saved.
HOW TO ISOLATE AT HOME WHEN YOU HAVE COVID-19
Isolation means staying at home when you are sick with COVID-19 and avoiding contact with other people to help prevent the spread of disease to others in your home and your community. If you have been diagnosed with COVID-19, it is expected that you take the following measures.
AVOID CONTAMINATING COMMON
ITEMS AND SURFACES
At least once daily, clean and disinfect surfaces that you touch often, like toilets, bedside tables, doorknobs, phones and television remotes. Do not share personal items with others, such as toothbrushes, towels, bed linen, utensils or electronic devices.
CARE FOR YOURSELF
Monitor your symptoms as directed by your health-care provider or Public Health Authority. If your symptoms get worse, immediately contact your health-care provider or Public Health Authority and follow their instructions.
LIMIT CONTACT WITH OTHERS
Do not leave home unless absolutely necessary, such as to seek medical care. Do not go to school, work, other public areas or use public transportation (e.g. buses, taxis). Arrange to have groceries and supplies dropped off at your door to minimize contact.
KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and dry with disposable paper towels or dry reusable towel, replacing it when it becomes wet.
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL,
SOURCE: GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
HOW TO ISOLATE AT HOME WHEN YOU HAVE COVID-19
Isolation means staying at home when you are sick with COVID-19 and avoiding contact with other people to help prevent the spread of disease to others in your home and your community. If you have been diagnosed with COVID-19, it is expected that you take the following measures.
AVOID CONTAMINATING COMMON
ITEMS AND SURFACES
At least once daily, clean and disinfect surfaces that you touch often, like toilets, bedside tables, doorknobs, phones and television remotes. Do not share personal items with others, such as toothbrushes, towels, bed linen, utensils or electronic devices.
CARE FOR YOURSELF
Monitor your symptoms as directed by your health-care provider or Public Health Authority. If your symptoms get worse, immediately contact your health-care provider or Public Health Authority and follow their instructions.
LIMIT CONTACT WITH OTHERS
Do not leave home unless absolutely necessary, such as to seek medical care. Do not go to school, work, other public areas or use public transportation (e.g. buses, taxis). Arrange to have groceries and supplies dropped off at your door to minimize contact.
KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and dry with disposable paper towels or dry reusable towel, replacing it when it becomes wet.
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL,
SOURCE: GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
HOW TO ISOLATE AT HOME WHEN YOU HAVE COVID-19
Isolation means staying at home when you are sick with COVID-19 and avoiding contact with other people to help prevent the spread of disease to others in your home and your community. If you have been diagnosed with COVID-19, it is expected that you take the following measures.
AVOID CONTAMINATING COMMON
ITEMS AND SURFACES
LIMIT CONTACT WITH OTHERS
At least once daily, clean and disinfect surfaces that you touch often, like toilets, bedside tables, doorknobs, phones and television remotes. Do not share personal items with others, such as toothbrushes, towels, bed linen, utensils or electronic devices.
Do not leave home unless absolutely necessary, such as to seek medical care. Do not go to school, work, other public areas or use public transportation (e.g. buses, taxis). Arrange to have groceries and supplies dropped off at your door to minimize contact.
CARE FOR YOURSELF
KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and dry with disposable paper towels or dry reusable towel, replacing it when it becomes wet.
Monitor your symptoms as directed by your health-care provider or Public Health Authority. If your symptoms get worse, immediately contact your health-care provider or Public Health Authority and follow their instructions.
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
More reading
On the science: Ivan Semeniuk explains
When does physical distancing end? These graphs show where we’re heading and why
How experts in big data and health are trying to map COVID-19 in the community
COVID-19 in depth
Ottawa had a playbook for a coronavirus-like pandemic 14 years ago. What went wrong?
A bit of relief
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
In the interests of public health and safety, our coronavirus news articles are free for anyone to access. However, The Globe depends on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe to globeandmail.com. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
Your subscription helps The Globe and Mail provide readers with critical news at a critical time. Thank you for your continued support. We also hope you will share important coronavirus news articles with your friends and family. In the interest of public health and safety, all our coronavirus news articles are free for anyone to access.
Your Globe
- Follow topics and authors relevant to your reading interests.
- Check your Following feed daily, and never miss an article. Access your Following feed from your account menu at the top right corner of every page.