Thought of the Day - January 31 - By the Numbers

If you look at the top ten countries with the highest death in the world they are all in Europe.

1. Gibraltar - 2,167 per million

2. San Marino - 1,913 per million

3. Belgium - 1,806 per million

4. Slovenia - 1,668 per million

5. UK - 1,533 per million

6. Czechia - 1,505 per million

7. Italy - 1,454 per million

8. Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1,431 per million

9. North Macedonia - 1,364 per million

10. Liechtenstein - 1,362 per million

As Canada closes in on 20,000 deaths we actually have about one-third of the per capita figures from these top countries (530). In order to be ready for our third-wave, which will probably be driven by the more infectious variants, we need to look at what these countries got wrong. Portugal missed the chance and is now rapidly catching this bunch.

In Canada, many provinces are seeing decreasing death rates as the second wave subsides. Daily new cases are now close to half what they were are the beginning of the month.

That said, Quebec and Saskatchewan continue to have significant fatality levels.

And given these two provinces are still leading the country in new cases per capita, this will not change in the short term.

With a few notable exceptions, vaccine rollout continues to along economic lines as Europe and North America continue to pull ahead of the rest of the world. That said, it is Serbia that leads the European Union charge. Also, Seychelles, which relies on tourism for much of its GDP, has moved into the number two spot globally.

Israel is now well over half-way, and, provided there are no supply shortages, should start to see their first "Herd Effects" in February. Canada has dropped out of the top ten.

This week's shout-out goes to Canada. With a few localized exceptions, all provinces are trending the right way with cases and hospitalizations decreasing.

Cheers

Cliff