Wednesday, March 22, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Canada’s poor performance continues in latest MLI COVID Misery Index update

March 31, 2021
in COVID-19, Domestic Policy Program, Economic policy, Health, Latest News, Releases
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A

OTTAWA, ON (March 31, 2021): The latest update of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s COVID Misery Index shows that Canada remains the worst country among its peers in terms of the misery wrought by its ineffective response to the pandemic. By contrast, effective vaccine rollouts in the US and UK continue to produce better results for those countries.

According to health statistician Richard Audas, the designer of the COVID Misery Index, “while some countries have experienced significant declines in the incidence and deaths caused by COVID-19, Canada is facing yet another wave of the virus with too few of the sophisticated tools available to manage the disease.”

Out of 15 countries ranked in the study, Canada places at the very bottom of the list in the Response Misery category

Out of 15 countries ranked in the study, Canada places at the very bottom of the list in the Response Misery category, which tracks the stringency of our lockdowns, the effectiveness of our vaccine rollout, and our relative testing capacity. Canada is ranked 14th out of 15 on the Economic Misery category and 5th out of 15 on the Disease Misery category, for a combined ranking of 11th place overall, unchanged since the Index was first launched.

The COVID Misery Index is updated regularly to track changes in the trajectory of the pandemic. Its findings also reflect, in large part, criticism levelled at the federal government in a recent report from Canada’s Auditor General (AG).

According to the AG, Canada had a slow and disorganized response to the pandemic. Likewise, the COVID Misery Index finds that Canada performs worse than most peer countries in terms of controlling the reproduction rate of the virus. By failing to employ a more efficient testing regime, and without a quick vaccine response like the US or UK, Canada continues to be dependent on heavy-handed lockdowns to keep cases low, adding more misery for Canadians.

Furthermore, as noted in a recent commentary by MLI Senior Fellow Shawn Whatley, COVID-19 provided a stress test for Canada’s beleaguered health care system. If Canada had comparable hospital capacity to some peer countries, we would have been better equipped to handle the pandemic without the constant risk of overwhelming our system and without cancelling or delaying critical surgeries, diagnoses, or treatments.

“For the population aged 85+ the excess death rate was extremely high in Canada and out of proportion with the death rates from COVID-19 itself,” notes Audas. Excess deaths for Canadians aged 15+ are also substantially higher than many of our peers. “This data suggests that in the fight against the coronavirus, those with other health conditions are suffering.”

Looking forward, Audas recommends greater attention be placed on vaccinations and excess deaths. As some countries edge closer to herd immunity from vaccines and loosen restrictions on civil liberties, their overall misery will drop significantly. Countries like Canada, forced to employ public health restrictions due to lagging vaccinations, may continue to also see elevated excess death rates despite relatively low rates of infections.

For more information, consult the links below.

  • Check out the COVID Misery Index here.
  • Read the update briefing here.
  • Read the written analysis and full methodology here.
  • Download the data for yourself using this link.

For more information, media are invited to contact:

Brett Byers
Communications and Digital Media Manager
613-482-8327 x105
brett.byers@macdonaldlaurier.ca

Tags: COVID Misery IndexCOVID-19economic policyeconomyHealthRichard Audas
Previous Post

Threats from Russia, China underscore need to modernize Norad: Christian Leuprecht on CTV News

Next Post

Inside Policy: The Legacy of Louis St-Laurent – When governments got things done

Related Posts

Putin and Xi to meet: Aurel Braun on CTV News
Video

Putin and Xi to meet: Aurel Braun on CTV News

March 21, 2023
Chinese Communist Party
Columns

Measuring the Canadian news media’s great awokening: David Rozado and Aaron Wudrick in the National Post

March 21, 2023
Should Canada get tough with China? Yes: Anastasia Lin in the Toronto Star
Columns

China’s insidious, longstanding effort to meddle in Canadian affairs: Christian Leuprecht in the National Post

March 21, 2023
Next Post
Inside Policy: The Legacy of Louis St-Laurent – When governments got things done

Inside Policy: The Legacy of Louis St-Laurent – When governments got things done

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Follow us on

Newsletter Signup

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

Inside Policy Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Back Issues
  • Advertising
  • Inside Policy Blog
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.