Canada's pandemic warning system, the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN), was considered world class. It attracted interest from Google, who tried to buy it from the feds in 2008, and just two years ago the WHO praised the system. A investigation in The Globe reveals how restructuing and bureaucracy left Canadians with our pants around our ankles as Covid-19 took over.
How it (Should) Works:
GPHIN was created as an early warning system for disease outbreaks around the world. Decision makers would be armed to make decisions about prepping hospitals, closing borders or cancelling flights.
GPHIN is armed with an algorithm that reviews over 7000 data points for unusual patterns. What sticks out is analyzed by humans who issue warnings if needed.
The system successfully identified an outbreak of SARS in China in 1998 and Bird Flu in Iran in 2005, both well before either outbreak was officially acknowledged to the world.
Why it Failed:
The system, which regular issued a dozen alerts a month sent its last alert in May 2019.
The organization was re-organized to prioritize domestic issues over international ones.
Layers of bureaucracy were added to prevent warnings from being issued without the approval of high ranking bureaucrats, which would take several days if approved at all.
GPHIN did not issue any alerts in the run up or during the Covid-19 outbreak in Canada or abroad, despite their own procedures saying they should.
Positive tests and baseball seem go hand in hand, but unlike PEDs positive tests for Covid-19 could cancel games and perhaps the whole season. MLB's opening day was just last week, at the time of this writing they've already had to cancel two games, a result of 14 Miami Marlins players and staff testing positive for Covid. Sunday night's matchup between the Marlins and Phillies went ahead after 4 Miami players had already tested positive, a decision reportedly made on a text chain.
The Big Picture The MLB's shortened season was doomed from the start, unlike the NBA and NHL who have adopted a hub city bubble approach to saving their seasons, the Big Leagues have teams travelling from stadium to stadium with limited restrictions on players activities off the field.
I'm not betting on another week before the whole thing is shut down again.
Air Canada's attempted takeover of Transat A.T., the parent company of Air Transat. has once again been delayed. The agreement, valued at $720M, gives each party three delays of the date the deal must close or fall apart. This is the second delay by Transat. Factors in the slow close include awaiting Canadian and European regulators to approve the deal, and the near collapse of the airline industry through the pandemic.
Market Impact:
Transat's share price fell another 2% on the news to $5.30, a significant discount to the $18 price tag Air Canada agreed to pay
Premier Doug Ford announced that his provincial government will allocated another $4B in funding to Ontario municipalities to help them deal with the Covid crunch on services. The funding, which will come equally from provincial and federal coffers, is to be used support shelters, food banks, public health and about half of the funding will be allocated to public transit systems, which have seen a 90% decrease in fares since the start of the pandemic.Â
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