Canada has been facing a global pandemic of Corona virus for the last 700 days and even now the situation of this disaster is serious and discouraging. Canada reported 12,114 new cases of infection on 22 December, the highest daily number of cases since the start of the global pandemic. This is the second year in a row in Canada that the global pandemic has imposed restrictions on the festive season, shortened activities and canceled many events.
The death toll due to Covid-19 has increased to more than 30,000. At this time, it is not up to the federal and provincial governments to find a way out of this disaster. In such a situation, the Canadian people will have to rethink their relationship with the global pandemic and learn to live in a state of constant disaster in the near future. Conflicting Messages At several federal government news conferences, the (Canadian Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau administration has signaled caution. Canada’s approach is completely opposite to that of the US.
Use of four-stage disaster cycle in disaster management planning
America’s vision is to try and enjoy the holidays without panicking because of Omicron. After being questioned by reporters, the Trudeau government criticized US President Joe Biden’s message that vaccinated people could gather for the holidays despite the outbreak of Omicron. Disaster Cycle A four-stage disaster cycle is often used in disaster management planning: mitigation, preparedness, response, and disaster recovery. The four-step disaster cycle proves to be helpful at times in dealing with and understanding disasters in a better way and also provides lessons for managing future disasters.
In the context of Covid-19, we are still in an emergency phase of disaster. The four-stage disaster cycle does not seem to have any benefit and the recovery from the pandemic is yet to be seen. People are so tired that it has become difficult for them to keep themselves constantly prepared to deal with the pandemic. Mitigation of the pandemic is still a distant dream at this stage. Recent research on risk management suggests that disasters are multifaceted and the actions taken to deal with them tend to change accordingly. It is important to adopt a multi-pronged approach to deal with disasters like COVID-19.
We currently have no way to deal with this disaster
The need to deal with a difficult situation with perseverance and self-restraint is the need of a strong will to deal with the current calamity. We don’t have any other option. According to historians, epidemics usually end in two ways. The first is the clinical end, that is, when the cases of infection and death decline. The second is the social end, when people, due to fatigue or other reasons, decide that the pandemic is over for them, no matter what the science says. Now is the time to accept that we have no way of dealing with this disaster at the moment. So we have to learn to live with it with self-restraint – we have no other choice.
(Jack L. Rozdilsky: Associate Professor of Disaster and Emergency Management, York University, Canada)
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