Philip Jong

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (or COVID-19) as a pandemic. First identified in China, the disease has now been registered in more than 200 countries worldwide. At least 12 million cases have been reported so far, resulting in over half a million deaths. The pandemic has exposed both inadequacies and inequalities in healthcare in countries that did not respond expeditiously to this global health crisis. In addition to unparalleled social and economic impacts, the pandemic has also unmasked great cultural injustice (including racism and xenophobia) and even greater political divide. While many countries have succeeded eventually in mounting public health measures to “flatten the curve” to slow down regional spread, a few countries are still failing consistently at present to implement similar strategies (such as diagnostic testing and contact tracing) in time to control the outbreak. As a health professional myself, I feel strongly that a continual and coordinated federal, provincial, and municipal public health effort is mandatory for Canada where I live in order to maintain the success that the country has achieved thus far in limiting the impact of this pandemic on Canadians. Until a vaccine or cure becomes available, COVID-19 will continue to be among the greatest global threats—health or otherwise—that humankind has ever faced to date.