Canada’s top doctor says that when Canada’s locked-down economic activity revives, she expects to see companies embrace a “new normal” in how they operate to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
Canada’s top doctor says that when Canada’s locked-down economic activity revives, she expects to see companies embrace a “new normal” in how they operate to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
In the second part of a wide-ranging interview with CBC News, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said that when Canadians return to work, it won’t be the same type of working environment that existed before the pandemic.
“I actually think businesses and Canadians will come up with ideas and I think public health is asking, ‘Well, here are some of the parameters, come up with a plan of how your workplace could potentially be redesigned,'” Tam told the CBC’s Rosemary Barton.
Tam suggested that some workplaces could get more employees to work from home, or stagger the start times of shifts so that large numbers of people don’t crowd public transportation at the same times of day.
“The new normal, when we get there, is one that is not the same as before,” Tam said “It’s one that might see our society function in different ways.”
Watch: Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam describes what life in might look like going forward:
In an exclusive interview with CBC’s chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam describes what life in Canadian cities, workplaces and homes might look like going forward. 0:56
Tam noted that travellers are now required to wear masks while flying or crossing international borders and suggested that practice could be expanded.
“How we actually maintain some sort of physical distance at the same time as certain businesses begin to open and workplaces re-adjust to the new normal — I think it will have some profound changes in society, including maybe our acceptance of people wearing masks,” she said.
Tam said that provinces will have to meet certain benchmarks before relaxing public health standards in order to prevent a resurgence of the disease.