[Music]
hello i'm mercedes stevenson
and this is the west walk politics
perspectives and players more than 50
countries are reporting cases of covid19
as the battle to contain the virus
intensifies here in north america many
schools are preparing for a break this
month
leaving parents to question the risks of
that much-desired vacation
have we reached the tipping point for
coronavirus
and can it be stopped joining me now is
dr marcos espinal the director of the
department of communicable diseases and
environmental determinants of health
at the pan american health organization
thank you for taking the time to talk to
us dr espinel
my pleasure each week we are hearing
about more and more cases and countries
reporting kovit 19
now within their borders a lot of people
are wondering at what
point does this meet the criteria to
become a pandemic
well that is a very important question
and there is a fine line that
we could cross any time
the the the pandemic issue
it has pros and cons because
the word pandemic can create also fear
stigma and can also suggest that
the international community cannot
contain
this virus on the other hand
we we firmly believe that it is a
pandemic when we start observing
sustained
transmission in the communities we have
seen that in three countries so far
italy south korea
and iran so
we are watching this critically and how
prepared do you think we are
here in canada the united states and the
americas
for this virus so the health systems are
really really not
homogeneous in terms of of preparation
so
there are stronger her systems uh others
are weaker
canada and the united states has very
strong health systems
i think canada it has done very well
canada also has a lot of experience
on the past coronavirus like sars and
and and and and and i think canada has
been able to
to handle the cases that have arrived um
related to china very well so far
the cases we've had coming into canada
have been people who have been
in contact with somebody who had contact
with someone in china a spouse of
somebody who had it
but when you really start to worry is
when you start to see community
transmission
that transmission of the disease to
people who have not been or had a close
relationship
with someone who is considered to be
high risk that is correct and that is
the key issue for
for calling it a pandemic event uh uh
we don't rule out that is going to be
called like that you know
um we also don't rule out like for
instance in china cases are declining
that it could come back but as the
director general was saying a few days
ago a couple of days ago
the organizations still think that it
can be contained
what about places like africa where
there is
now a case in nigeria where there is not
the kind of health care system
that european and north american and
many latin american countries have
once it reaches there does it become
much harder to contain it
there is no doubt that nigeria will be
committed to
try to contain these we have a
office in uh for the whole of africa
and and and certainly we're working with
them but i agree with you there are
there are
several countries there that where the
health systems are
are weak and they need to be
strengthened
even in the united states in california
they were talking about a shortage of
testing kits
are you concerned about whether or not
even countries like canada and the u.s
are really prepared for this to come
and for the health care system to have
to deal with it one thing is containment
and the other thing is mitigation
mitigation measures can be implemented
when we have outbreaks or
or community transmission a lot of
canadian families are getting ready to
go
on their march break they tend to go
away people travel they fly they go to
places
where there's lots of people like theme
parks
you know should canadian families be
concerned about that and should be
people
be rethinking potentially their plans
for the break or
just carry on well um
that's an important question i think the
the key issue is to watch
how this evolved and make the best
decision close to the vacation or so
i mean some countries are already
recommending uh cancelling
mass gathering events so but
it depends on on the country itself you
know
each country within their boundaries can
recommend
what what they consider is good for
their citizens uh
one thing is it's clear that is there is
community transmissions
in a place uh and you know it's
important to avoid that place i mean
for the time being but but if the
vacation is in two months or so
i recommend watch and and and see how
these evolve
uh if they see more cases coming into
the vacation
or holiday place then it would be
recommended it would be better to to
postpone
that traveling because protecting life
is more important than being on holiday
so for people at home
watching what should they be doing to
protect themselves
both from preventing getting the virus
but also dealing with a situation
where there is an outbreak and things
could change in terms of ability to get
out of the house
or use public transit or go shopping i
think the important issue is not to
create panic
the the purchase of extra supplies
is related to what i said earlier if
an influx of cases arrive in canada the
the authorities need to be prepared with
stocks of supplies
uh protection equipment and so on
uh but they're not saying this is
because
the the risk is is high or low
i think this is called preparedness i
mean to make sure
they have the the the equipment needed
and the supplies needed to
to to face a major influx of of cases
i think the issue of low risk versus is
also depend on
on the health system of the ca of the
country but nobody can control
the the virus like this nobody can
predict i'm sorry
what is going to happen uh uh but we can
also say that it's going to be
armageddon or something like that i
think countries are preparing
and canada is one of them and and
and and we fully uh uh uh are confident
that
canada is able to do a good preparation
for
for for facing cases of coronavirus like
they have done
already so far thank you very much
doctor thank you
that's all the time we have for today
for the west block i'm mercedes
stevenson
thanks for joining us
you