Osoyoos Persists

As the coronavirus shows signs of starting a comeback in B.C. and Alberta and it rages out of control in the U.S., a fundamental question remains confusing for some: “How is the virus spread and what can be done to stop it?”

It doesn’t help that especially in the early days, considerable misinformation and contradictory information was put out by organizations we rely on for answers – the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

I don’t believe for one minute Donald Trump’s recent retweet from a game show host, Chuck Woolery, who claimed the CDC and others are “lying” to the American people.

Rather, I think it’s because of the tendency of bureaucracies to resist new information and for generals to fight the last war. Many of the earlier incorrect statements about Covid-19 were based on the experiences with SARS and MERS, without understanding how the novel coronavirus is different. Continue reading “Despite health agency communication missteps, simple steps can limit coronavirus spread”

The B.C. government released new statistics on June 23 to bolster the case for moving to Phase 3 of reopening, now that Covid-19 cases have been reduced to a manageable level.

Phase 3 permits non-essential and recreational travel to other parts of the province as the summer season gets underway. In reality, people have been doing this kind of travel for weeks anyway as there never was a legal ban on non-essential travel in the province – just a recommendation.

The numbers for B.C. are good right now. But as more and more summer tourist traffic fills the streets of Osoyoos, we need to remain vigilant. Continue reading “B.C. has done well at controlling Covid-19, but we could soon see a surge with summer travel and complacency”

As B.C. and other jurisdictions around the world begin to lift physical distancing measures, how will we know how well it’s working?

Human behaviour never exactly mirrors the measures implemented by governments. Some people defy guidelines to stay at least at least two metres apart in public. On the other hand, just because a nail salon or gym opens again, it doesn’t mean people will return in pre-Covid-19 numbers. The public makes its own judgments about what is safe.

In a previous article, I talked about how geography can be used to understand the spread of the novel coronavirus. In this article, I’ll talk about how cellphone data can be used to estimate people’s movements and adherence to social distancing guidelines. Continue reading “Geography and Covid-19 Part 2 – Cellphone location data provide insights on physical distancing”

It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. I would argue that a map is worth much more.

Can maps provide valuable information about the coronavirus pandemic? Absolutely.

I’ve had a fascination with maps since I was a young boy and used to buy topographic maps with my allowance. I enjoyed geography in school and when I studied political science and political economy in university, I took courses in human geography and statistics. Later, in one of my jobs, I used geomatics to analyze public opinion data.

Geomatics is defined as a “discipline concerned with the collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, presentation of geographic data or geographic information.” It’s related to GIS (geographic information system), which pertains more to the software used for this analysis.

Geomatics can be used to look at spatial information about where the SARS-CoV-2 virus is spreading. Combined with demographic information about race, poverty levels and access to healthcare, it can provide insights on the types of places and populations most at risk for Covid-19. Continue reading “Geography provides valuable Covid-19 information when data is made public”