The Great Lockdown vs. The Great Recession

Welcome to the Maclean's daily newsletter. As the coronavirus disrupts life in Canada, and Canadians get used to the notion of "social distancing" and "flattening the curve," Maclean's has expanded this newsletter to include everything you need to know about the global pandemic. You'll still find our best stories of the day at the bottom of the newsletter, but we'll also catch you up on news and notes from around the world.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Now is the time to call your loved ones and tell them all the things you want to say… I’ll come back in 15 minutes,” a doctor at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell hospital in New York City recounts what he tells his coronavirus patients before they are intubated.

Some 27,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Canada, with 900 deaths. Worldwide, the numbers are two million and 125,000, respectively.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the Great Lockdown will reduce the real GDP of the world by three per cent this year. To put that in perspective, the Great Recession of 2009 reduced it by 0.1 per cent. Canada’s economy is expected to contract by 6.2 per cent in 2020, then grow by 4.2 per cent in 2021.

As of tonight, everyone returning to Canada without a clear plan to quarantine for 14 days, including how to access food and medicine, will be ordered into a hotel or other designated site until a plan is developed.

The sudden avalanche of COVID-19 patients in some hospitals has forced health care personnel around the world to rework, in real time, how they deliver medical care, sharing their experiences as they develop new treatment plans. For example, as the New York Times explains, “Instead of quickly sedating people who had shockingly low levels of oxygen and then putting them on mechanical ventilators, many doctors are now keeping patients conscious, having them roll over in bed, recline in chairs and continue to breathe on their own—with additional oxygen—for as long as possible.” The techniques have been shown to improve oxygen levels in some patients and reduce the number of intubations.

The Bank of Canada “strongly advocates that retailers continue to accept cash to ensure Canadians have access to the goods and services they need. Refusing cash purchases outright will put an undue burden on those who depend on cash and have limited payment options.” It notes that anyone concerned about the virus on banknotes can “clean polymer bank notes with a bit of soap and water since they are resistant to moisture. Note that this is not the case for older paper notes.”

Those we’ve lost: Andrew Jack, who died of the virus in March, was a dialect coach who worked on the latest Star Wars films as well as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. His live explanation of the regional accents of the United Kingdom is a tour de force.

Your moment of Zen: While pets are largely confined to the indoors during the pandemic, wildlife is taking advantage of quiet streets for a bit of sightseeing, including deer going for a stroll in Paris. In Kerala, India, an endangered civet stretched its legs, while in Santiago, Chile, a cougar explored the city. Less adorable are the packs of jackals that have moved into the parks of Tel Aviv, Israel.

—Patricia Treble

As of the latest update, this is the number of confirmed cases in Canada. We're updating this chart every day.