The damage to the lives and livelihoods of Canadians caused by widespread Covid-19 lockdowns outweighs any potential benefits. Jobs will be lost permanently as thousands of business fail to survive the lockdowns. There are reports of higher rates of suicide, increased drug use including antidepressants, and increased family conflict as people try to cope with the financial and personal stresses associated with the lockdowns. The economic and social harm is profound.

The number of deaths directly caused by Covid-19 may be significantly overstated because public health officials are recording people who had Covid-19 but may have died from other underlying causes in their official Covid-19 death counts. Indeed, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, 94% of people who contracted Covid-19 and died in the United States had underlying health conditions that may have caused or contributed to their deaths.

Even using official statistics, less than 0.05% of Canadians have died from Covid-19. Of those who died, 89% of them were over the age of 70. In Ontario, long-term care facility residents represent 60% of all Covid-19 deaths. The vast majority of people who contract Covid-19 will recover on their own without needing any hospitalization.

The government is spending billions of dollars to keep healthy people from going to work. To ease the stress on the health care system, the federal and provincial governments should reprioritize their spending to focus on the elderly and those with underlying health conditions who are much more likely to require hospitalization and keep them as safe as possible.

Governments must do a better job of protecting residents of long-term care facilities by mandating that workers be allowed to only work at one facility to reduce the chances of spreading the virus and by increasing the number of inspections and stronger enforcement. Governments must also make a concerted effort to quickly increase the supply and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines to those who choose to take it. Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers should be encouraged to build facilities in Canada through temporary tax breaks and grants.

Municipal and provincial governments must end the lockdowns which hurt far more people than they help. Enacting these measures and ending the widespread lockdowns while maintaining safety protocols, such as the use of masks, physical distancing and reasonable room capacity restrictions, is the best approach to deal with Covid-19 until it can be brought under control.