Our Canadian friends have been much better at controlling the coronavirus pandemic than we have. Canada is seeing a fall surge in coronavirus cases, just like most of the world, but as of yesterday, Canada’s seven-day average for daily new cases was 2,747, or 7.3 new cases per day per 100,000 people. The U.S. seven-day average for daily new cases is 75,522, or 22.8 per 100K population. South Dakota’s seven-day average is 994, or 112 per 100K.
Canada’s hottest coronavirus provinces—Manitoba, Quebec, and Alberta—are still seeing fewer coronavirus cases per capita than 43 of the United States. Canada’s most successful pandemic fight is happening in the north and the east. The great Arctic provinces—Nunavut, Yukon, and Northwest Territories—together have reported only 31 cases of covid-19 all year. The Atlantic provinces—New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador—have all seen less than one case per 100,000 people. All seven of those provinces are beating every state in the Union in average daily cases per capita. Nova Scotia has a population of 977,000, not quite a Pennington County larger than South Dakota’s, but they’ve seen a total of 1,102 cases. Nova Scotia’s single-day case record was 55 back in April. South Dakota has seen more than 1,102 cases on Sunday and yesterday, when we set our one-day record of 1,270; our 2020 total so far is 42,000.
The Atlantic provinces have crushed the pandemic by forming “the Atlantic bubble,” an agreement to allow travel among those four provinces but required anyone from outside the region to self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival. The Atlantic provinces’ vital tourism industry has taken a hit, but those eastern Canadians are able to go about much of their other business more normally than the rest of their nation or their neighbors south of the border:
With few local infections, the economies of the Atlantic provinces are reopening at a faster rate than any other part of Canada. Schools have resumed without incident and customers are returning to many restaurants and bars again, albeit at reduced capacities.
“Compared to the rest of Canada, we’re lucky. We have almost a normal life. I can go to the pub, I can go to a restaurant, I can go shopping, and I don’t have to wear a mask,” said Roger Ouellette, a professor of political science at the University of Moncton. “We have had good management of this crisis.”
In Pictou County, a rural region on Nova Scotia’s North Shore, there hasn’t been a confirmed infection since mid-August.
…“They certainly have a geographic advantage, and a smaller population that works in its favour. But we still can’t ignore smart policy and good leadership there. That’s been a fundamental factor,” said Isaac Bogoch, an infectious-disease specialist with the University of Toronto [Greg Mercer, “The ‘Atlantic Bubble’ Has Largely Succeeded in Keeping out Covid-19. But Can It Last?” The Globe and Mail, 2020.10.02].
The Atlantic provinces’ cooperation took some of the sting out of the impact on local tourism businesses, and crushing the pandemic has allowed the region to reclaim 80% of the jobs it lost during the spring outbreak. That’s close to the percentage of pandemic job loss we’ve recovered in South Dakota, but without all the sickness and death. Three of the four provinces are also projected to see lower declines in GDP for the year than Canada as a whole.
Governor Kristi Noem’s gallivanting around the country this week makes closing South Dakota’s border seem even more appealing. The places our poor leader is visiting probably wish we would have closed our border last week.
Governor Noem represents the opposite of the good pandemic sense shown by the Atlantic provinces. Instead of imposing travel restrictions and serious self-isolation periods for visitors, Noem is busing and jetting from state to state with no regard for local quarantine rules, no mask in any setting, and no social distancing. I won’t shout “Lock her up!” but the Atlantic provinces suggest we might do well to lock her out… at least for a couple weeks after she returns from her disease-vectoring travel.
Thanks for posting this comparison Cory.
I’ve been watching the SD cases from here in Ottawa. After relaxing our rules over the summer, and seeing cases rise “alarmingly” after school resumed (and after our Thanksgiving in early October) Ontario instituted a province-wide mask mandate and Ottawa re-closed gyms, theatres, and casinos, restricted restaurants and bars to outdoor dining or takeout and limited gatherings to 10 people indoors or 25 outdoors. With a population of a million in Ottawa and roughly 15 million in Ontario it has been surreal to see the daily cases in South Dakota surpass those of our entire province with no apparent official response and widespread anti-mask rhetoric. I hope my parents In SD will be able to protect themselves but no leaders seem to be looking out for them.
My son had to be “retrieved” from his university in Nova Scotia when schools closed early this spring. Allowing a parent into the province to do this was one exception to the mandatory 14-day quarantine. This fall, his classes were largely online so he’s home but hoping to go back next semester. He’ll need to return early to quarantine in his dorm before he can start classes and won’t be able to leave the Maritimes until after the term ends. I had thought one benefit of having him attend school in such a beautiful region would be making parental visits and spending time exploring the area. It hasn’t worked out that way for me, but I do have the comfort of knowing he’ll be in one of the safest places, and therefore able to have one of the most normal university experiences available now.
I will take hottie Justin Trudeau’s progressive policies over dysfunctional DC politics anyday. If it weren’t for the colder harsher winters, I would move there in a heartbeat. Peaceful charming countries, what a gift.
I believe Canada has closed its borders to Gringos from America.
Unlike wingnuts, Canadians don’t fiddle-fart around with citizen’s health and best interests.
Mfi – the border was closed to Americans entering Canada March 21. Every month they review this status (a process I imagine takes about 2 seconds) and extend the closure. Public opinion overwhelmingly supports this – I can’t imagine a change any time soon.
Smart, Barbara: I wish I could come visit Canada again, but I understand why Canada won’t have us right now. We don’t deserve admission to any foreign country until we demonstrate that we can take coronavirus seriously and shut it down.
Yep, let’s make America great again-soon as we elect Biden and rid ourselves of the virus called Trumpism.
Imagine if the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana, maybe Idaho too, had organized their bubble in May. They could have introduced early rules about masks, distancing, travel, visitor quarantines, etc.
This summer things would have been open, no masks, good business, including locals, safely visiting elder family members, medical personnel and first responders rested, plenty of PPE, live schooling, sports, local rodeos. And low, low death rates. Let me repeat — very low death rates.
All that could have been. They could have been the New Zealand of the USA.
Damn. Such a pity. But for a little care, a little heart, so many gramas and grampas would still be alive and their little grandchildren would have gotten to know them. Immune compromised children and adults could have enjoyed their lives too.
All that really could have been, but for Kruel Kristi and the spineless SDGOP. 😥 😥 😥
Speaking of crushed….. The best James Bond ever, (imho) Sean Connery, has departed Her Majesty’s Secret Service for the final time, aged 90.
Thanks for the update on Canadian border closure, Barbara. I get kinda lazy about updating my comments from time to time. :)
Canada will also admit 1.5 million more immigrants in the next two years. Maybe we could qualify.
BTW, British Columbia is not so harsh and stays pretty nice year round. Good attitudes there as well. “In Vancouver, the summers are short, comfortable, and partly cloudy and the winters are long, very cold, wet, and mostly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 35°F to 73°F and is rarely below 24°F or above 80°F.”
“Very cold” in Vancouver is like flip flop weather here. When the sun comes out here in the winter, it’s just meant to be like a fridge light, no heat.
I’ve been to Vancouver. Beautiful city and a really wonderful Chinatown.
Sean Connery, another old misogynist bites the dust. Meh.
Sean Connery was way good in “The Man Who Would Be King” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjAi5ER5FOU
Our nationial guard is readying for the election. They are gonna have their hands full taking care of the white supremacies who will be causing disruptions across the country.
“The National Guard Bureau has established a new unit made up mostly of military policemen that could be dispatched to help quell unrest in coming days, after a turbulent summer in which National Guard members were deployed to several cities.” Washington Post 10.31.20
Pretty much a total disgrace for a democracy that is supposed to lead the world.