Many are hoping that life in Canada returns to normal sooner rather than later.

While it will likely be a ‘new normal’ and that anything close to what life felt like before is still many moons away, there is some hope that some restrictions could be lifted in the near future.

As some countries start to show positive signs of slowing the spread of COVID-19, the World Health Organization is already trying to inject some coordination into what the slow transition back to some sense of regular life might look like.

“The way down is much slower than the way up,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said in a speech Monday. 

“That means control measures must be lifted slowly, and with control. It cannot happen all at once.”

The WHO guidelines outline six areas that officials of each country must consider as they look towards resuming activities.
 

Photo Credit: The Canadian Press

 

1. Is transmission of the virus under control?

Short answer: We’re not testing enough to know.

What the experts say: Eleanor Fish, a professor of immunology at the University of Toronto, said testing must become much more widespread before we really understand the state of community transmission.
 

2. Is the health-care system equipped to detect, test, isolate and treat every case, and trace every person who came into contact with a positive case?

Short answer: Not yet.

What the experts say: Timothy Sly, professor emeritus at Ryerson University’s school of occupational and public health, said Canada has done “an abysmal job” at testing and tracing.



Photo Credit: The Canadian Press
 

3. Are outbreaks minimized in special settings like health facilities and nursing homes?

Short answer: No.

What the experts say: Risks remain dangerously high in hundreds of nursing homes across the country.
 

4.  Are there measures in workplaces and schools to prevent the spread of the virus?

Short answer: Not yet.

What the experts say: In most provinces, only essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies can remain open. All others must operate with employees working from home. If they can’t do that, they must close. Restaurants can generally only allow takeout or delivery.

5. Are the risks of importing more cases from outside the country being managed?

Short answer: Mostly yes.

What the experts say: The federal government has adopted once-unthinkable measures over the past month to keep more cases of COVID-19 from arriving in Canada. Those include banning most non-Canadians from entering the country and a 14-day mandatory quarantine for anyone who does.

6. Are local communities educated, engaged and empowered to adjust to the “new norm”?

Short answer: Maybe

What the experts say: Canadians have been inundated with warnings from political leaders and public health experts for weeks now to be prepared for bad news. Trudeau has not been shy about making sure people know that until there is a vaccine, we are all going to have to get used to having at least some restrictions on our movements and behaviours.