Relative Pandemic Severity in Canada and Four Peer Nations During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

Abstract

Cross-border comparisons of healthcare structure and outcomes between Canada and the United States have yielded important insights into strengths and weaknesses of their respective health systems. Canada's approach to control of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was more successful than that of the United States in terms of mortality. We standardized US mortality risk to the Canadian population, in order to estimate hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths Canada averted by outperforming the United States in this regard. We estimate that Canada averted some 45,000 deaths, 185,000 hospital admissions and 38,000 intensive care admissions. Notably, the deaths averted were concentrated in adults in the 50-75 year age group.

Impact of Community Masking on SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Ontario after Adjustment for Differential Testing by Age and Sex

“…We estimated the prevented fraction of test-adjusted infections between first introduction of mask mandates on June 12, 2020 and December 8, 2020 based on Model 1 predictions with masking, and by generating Model 1 predictions with the community masking variable set to zero; we also estimated prevented fractions and 95% confidence intervals using the punaf command in Stata 15 (18). We estimated the health gains associated with cases averted through masking by applying Ontarioderived age-specific case-fatality, hospitalization and ICU admission risk estimates as in (19). For deaths averted, we assigned gains in quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) based on the approach of Briggs and Kirwin (20,21).…”

A retrospective study of the effects of COVID-19 Non-pharmaceutical interventions on Influenza in Canada.

“…Beginning in March 2020, jurisdictions across Canada experienced a variety of measures that could impact the spread of airborne infectious diseases. These measures included lockdowns (1,2), masking (both on a personal and institutional level (3,4), and social distancing (5). While adherence, enforcement and austerity of these measures in Canada differed by province (6), they left a measurable effect on seasonal Influenza.…”