“COVID-19's 2nd Wave: Worst Nightmares Coming True?”

There has been a sudden hike in the number of new COVID-19 cases in Canada after a short latency period. There is a scorching fear among the population reminiscing the situation in late April. Social distancing, use of personal protective equipment along with the effort of health care workers helped Canada to drop their COVID-19 cases significantly. But the sudden hike in the cases suggests that people have started to take things lightly, as the number of public gatherings has increased along with more people getting reluctant to wear a mask after the epidemic cooled down. Many public health officials along with researchers were in the news during the latent period, they suggested that precaution should be taken to terminate the second wave but is it too late for that?

World cases as seen on 22nd august 2020

Image credit: Government of Canada's official website.

World cases as seen on 22nd September 2020

Image credit: Government of Canada official website

As can be seen from the images, the number of COVID-19 cases is on spike around the globe for a month(darker shade contributes to increased number). This graphical interpretation of the world should be a topic of concern for every individual as the whole community is going to be affected by the same. It can be observed that the second spike is currently in progress when u look at the graph on the lower right column.

Canada has been on the exceptional end when it comes to recovering from COVID-19. Many provinces such as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Manitoba had a negligible number of COVID-19 cases in July-august. But there has been a recent hike in cases and the hotspots are Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec.

Image credit: Government of Canada Click here

Ontario premier Ford in the recent public speaking stated his concerns regarding the 2nd wave of COVID-19, he also stated that in the coming week he is going to provide plans to deal with it in the fall of 2020. As seen above, there are more than 3000 active cases in Ontario and the curve is spiking leading to panic. But other provinces that are the topic for discussion include British Colombia and Quebec, both having more than 2000 cases and are on the spike.

Image credit: Government of Canada Click here

Nova Scotia has 0 active cases of COVID-19 along with other Atlantic provinces that have less than 5 cases as of 22nd September 2020. The Atlantic bubble is amongst the safest places to be in Canada right now, but is it going to be the same in the coming days? This is a topic of concern among public health officials currently. Maintaining low exposure and protecting the province will not be that easy when there is a significant hike in the cases of neighboring provinces. All the protocols and efforts are in action to prevent further spread of COVID-19 but in the end, it comes to personal responsibility. Being a responsible resident of this country, everyone should follow the basic rules mandated by the officials (social distancing, wearing a face mask) to limit spread and be safe.