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I compared provincial Covid rates with the Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker, which now has provincial indexes. It confirms what we've seen in other countries: the faster the response, the better the result. Quick thread. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-bonnie-henry-contained-bcs-first-wave-of-the-virus-the-second-wave/
This was seen on both the first and second waves. The Atlantic provinces slammed the hammer hard, and kept cases low. Even when cases were close to zero, they remained vigilant. But this allowed them some freedoms, like the travel bubble.
However, the Atlantic provinces benefited from their small populations. Covid spreads more in densely populated areas. But the Atlantic provinces avoided superspreader events precisely by restricting travel from outside.
This chart shows the severity of some specific measures that make up the Oxford stringency index. Notice how the Atlantic provinces kept travel restrictions high throughout.
Quebec's second wave started shortly after the province relaxed restrictions on internal movement.
Quebec's second wave started shortly after the province relaxed restrictions on internal movement.
It's not necessarily the direct cause, but experts tell me that travel restrictions are probably the most impactful measure to keep cases down.
You can read more about this in my story with @inayatsingh and @J_C_Perkins which came out today. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/stringency-covid-lockdown-wave-1.5853785
You can read more about this in my story with @inayatsingh and @J_C_Perkins which came out today. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/stringency-covid-lockdown-wave-1.5853785
You can also read more about the Oxford stringency index and how it's calculated here: https://github.com/OxCGRT/covid-policy-tracker/blob/master/documentation/codebook.md
Sorry, that was the wrong link. I need another Boxing Day coffee. Here's the right one. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/stringency-covid-lockdown-wave-1.5853785
