A simple look at the statistical data on contamination shows very different results in Canada compared to the United States. In fact, while the United States has become the epicenter of the pandemic and its death rate commensurate with those of Italy or Spain, Canada statically ranks among the top of the class with the Australia, Taiwan, Singapore or South Korea. How to explain this difference with the United States when we live on the same continent?
However, epidemic preparedness begins years before an epidemic. Obama had put in place a strategy, but Trump threw these studies in the trash in the summer of 2018. Even more, as the present pandemic loomed on the horizon, in early February 2020 he proposed to cut the budget by 30%. epidemic prevention.
A Harvard University study found that in order to control contagious diseases, it was important to adopt a policy of rapid detection and surveillance. During the first cases of the coronavirus, President Trump's attitude was to deny the problem, saying everything was under control.
For several months, the US president rejected the scientific expertise of public health agencies and the advice of his own intelligence services.
However, Canadian authorities have understood the importance of having a strategy to control the curve as a means of stemming the spread of the pandemic.
