$2,000 a month, the gap in income will pose a
problem for many households resulting in possible
debt accumulation.

Furthermore, parliament budgetary officer
Yves Giroux reports that the federal deficit for 2020
will likely hit more than $250 billion as a result of
COVID-19 and can go higher if lockdown remains
longer than originally planned. This is an estimate
to the $146 billion in spending the government
announced to help people in financial strain from
the pandemic. A report by the Bank of Canada also
warns that household debt levels are likely to rise
and be a serious threat to households whose income
doesn't recover fully from the lockdown. The national

debt is currently the largest Canada has ever had.

ABUSE

With more people staying indoors and not being able
to go outside or see anyone outside of who they live
with, people living in abusive households currently
have no other place to go. Asa result, domestic

abuse rates have risen during this lockdown.

BC human rights commissioner Kasari
Govender says the increased demand of anti-
violence services gives a glimpse into how frequent
abuse is happening during the lockdown. “One
service provider reported a 300 percent increase in
calls over this time,” said Govender in a CTV News
article. The Vancouver Battered Women’s Support
Services has seen the 300 percent call increase over
the past three weeks—citing isolation making it
harder for people to leave abusive situations.

In an article for Global News, the advocacy
group’s executive director Angela Marie
MacDougall said 40 percent of the callers are first
timers, and it's not just people being abused they
are hearing from. Calls from concerned neighbours,

friends, family, and even young children have
reached out through these services. Vancouver
Police say they have yet to see a spike in their
domestic abuse rates but are watching for any
forms of abuse that may be occurring during

lockdown.

PEOPLE WRONGLY FEARING THE HOSPITAL
Many doctors in hospitals across Canada are noticing
an alarming trend: hospital admission rates are
plummeting. For CTV News, the president of the
Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) states that
there is a 50 to 60 percent decrease in patients who
would regularly be in care for cardiac problems. The
potential reasons for this avoidance being that people
are scared of contracting the virus at the hospital, and
that many don’t want to overburden the system that
they've been warned would be overwhelmed. But
doctors everywhere are trying to dispel these myths
and encourage those who may have health issues that
they need to go to the hospital.

Dr. Jeff Shaw and Dr. Debra Isaac, both experts
of cardiology in Calgary, insist that the hospital is
a safe place and that the population’s non-COVID
medical concerns are still urgent priorities. In a
saddening tweet, Shaw states "| lost the battle to
save a patient last night because they waited to long
to come to the hospital.” In an interview for CTV
News, Shaw also brings up a very pressing point:
certainly don’t think we're overwhelmed and people
need to hear that.”

NO ELECTIVE SURGERIES OR CANCER
SCREENINGS

Fear of people contracting the virus or overcrowding
hospitals also forced hospitals to halt all elective
surgeries and cancer screenings. On April 15, almost

"|

14,000 BC elective surgeries were cancelled since
cancellations began in March. Across Canada,
over 400,000 surgeries were either cancelled or
postponed. On May 9, some Canadian hospitals
have reported they are addressing the backlog of
elective surgeries that had to be cancelled in the
midst of the pandemic.

According to CTV News, elective surgeries
resumed as of May 18, but officials say it could take
up to two years for the backlog of people waiting
to be cleared. Consequences for these cancelled
surgeries have already surfaced in April as a 50-year-
old father in BC died waiting for a surgery planned
for March. Ontario's health minister also reports
about 35 people in the province have died as a
result of not receiving heart surgery promptly.

Screenings for cancer has also been temporarily
suspended because of the virus. In Ontario, routine
cancer screening has plummeted because of the
pandemic, according to The Star. Furthermore,
mammograms from the Ontario Cervical Cancer
Screening Program were down nearly 50 percent
in March. On the BC Cancer website, it states
screening for breast cancer will resume in select
centres in June and that all three screening sites
will be back by July. No date yet has been given for

cervical or colon cancer screening.

Even when a COVID-19 vaccine is determined,
the world will still be reeling and picking up the
pieces left as a result of this lockdown. For now,
there's no telling how this quarantine will affect
society in the future, but it's clear that social isolation,
economic shutdowns, and financial hardship have
already taken a serious toll on our society that we
must address.

  

 

 

   
   

 
 
 
   
  

Illustration by Udeshi Senaviratne