Editor:
Keith Baldrey’s Jan. 22 opinion piece, “Not all lockdowns are created equal,” includes a serious omission that undermines his argument that slowing the spread of COVID depends on “public compliance with restrictions … rather than the rules themselves.”
Baldrey’s exclusion of the Maritimes “for comparison sake” excludes the region with the best health outcomes and the most aggressive lockdown: they closed their borders to the rest of Canada. New Zealand and China have taken similar measures and seen similar success. Ignoring this perspective in an article comparing restrictions and health outcomes is misleading: it presents an incomplete set of facts to readers.
Baldrey also makes a factual error in suggesting B.C.’s mortality rate is lower than other provinces. As of 7 p.m. ET on Jan. 25, Saskatchewan’s deaths per 100,000 people were lower than B.C.’s. Further, only looking at cases as a percentage of population risks underplaying the significant impact COVID has had on our province: B.C. is 4th in total cases (64,828), hospitalized cases (328) and deaths (1,154).
As of Jan. 25, 1,154 people have died from COVID in British Columbia. Publishing incomplete comparisons and being factually inaccurate is not the role of a community publication in the middle of a global pandemic. Residents of the Coast deserve better.
Andrew Rusk, Garden Bay
