So while experts acknowledge it’s “very human” to freak out, they’ve also said people shouldn’t panic. After all, a person in Canada has better odds of dying from cardiovascular disease than coronavirus.
“What should you worry about?” says Jeffrey S. Rosenthal, a University of Toronto statistics professor and author of Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, which came out following the SARS epidemic.
“Anything you can do to help your heart. Exercise and eating well are massively more important than the more obscure ways people worry about dying.”
1:34 More Canadians want to be evacuated from Wuhan than room on plane amid novel coronavirus outbreak: Trudeau
More Canadians want to be evacuated from Wuhan than room on plane amid novel coronavirus outbreak: Trudeau
What’s more likely to kill you in Canada?
Cancer
Nearly 80,000 people died from cancer in 2018, according to Statistics Canada. One of the main causes? Smoking. The sooner you quit, the sooner the risk you’ll die early drops, research shows.
“Smoking’s still our number one (risk factor),” says Dr. Doug Manuel, a senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and professor in family medicine at the University of Ottawa.
Story continues below advertisement
Cardiovascular disease
In 2018, more than 53,000 Canadians died from heart disease, according to Statistics Canada. It is the second leading cause of death, and 12 Canadian adults who have been diagnosed with heart disease die every hour, according to surveillance data the Public Health Agency of Canada gathered in 2012 and 2013.
Accidents, including a car crash
Nearly 13,300 people died from unintentional injuries caused by collisions in 2018, according to Statistics Canada. And while the number of car accident fatalities has dropped from nearly 3,000 20 years ago, people in Canada are still more likely to die in a car crash than from coronavirus. More than 1,800 people died in a collision in 2017, per figures from Transport Canada.
The flu
Influenza and pneumonia killed 8,511 people in 2018, per Statistics Canada figures. When you narrow the scope to just the common flu, the death toll is around 1,000 per year, says Rosenthal. Once he crunches the numbers, he says this: the odds of a random Canadian dying from the common flu this year is about one in 300,000.
Every year thousands of people in Canada die by suicide — a figure experts say is conservative at best. In 2018, 3,811 people died by suicide. And yet, it is preventable, experts say, if we keep fighting stigma, connecting the data, and working to ensure everyone has access to the treatment they need.
If cancer, heart disease and a car accident don’t strike fear the same way coronavirus does, you’re not alone.
“Why do people fear terrorism and SARS so much more than automobile accidents and cardiovascular disease? Because terrorism and SARS seems new and unknown, and therefore uncertain,” Rosenthal wrote in his book.
“Humans can accept significant danger and loss of numerous lives, provided these happen in a manner to which they are accustomed.
“But when unexpected dangers emerge, they fear these more than is truly justified.”
Tweet This
Some things we take for granted, says Manuel: getting the flu shot, washing your hands, refrigerating meat, being careful with food preparation, putting our seat belt on when we drive, not driving in bad weather, exercising.
Or, Manuel notes, it’s a case of delayed gratification.
The new coronavirus seems immediate and infectious and scary, while dying from lung cancer or heart disease in the future might not seem quite as immediate when you light up a cigarette or two.
Manuel isn’t discounting the need for vigilance in preventing the spread of the new strain of coronavirus, but he says mostly we need to put our trust and funding in the public health infrastructure such outbreaks demand.
Story continues below advertisement
And what can you do in the interim to live a longer, healthier life? Manuel’s advice isn’t earth-shattering.
“Eat better,” he says. “Don’t smoke.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
