Article content continued

“We will be able to say more about how many weeks or months this lasts for as we see the impacts of the behaviours people have engaged in over these days,” he added.

Later that day, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer, Dr. Howard Njoo, told reporters that Canadians will be in it “for the long haul.”

But again, he shied away from mentioning any specific dates.

“It’s not going to be days and weeks, it’s definitely months, many months. And the one thing that other countries are also looking at, and we’re looking at as well, is that is there a possibility of a second wave? Who knows?” Njoo said. ‘We’re looking at all possibilities and planning for all potential scenarios.”

Photo by Justin Tang/The Canadian Press/File

Another seldom-reported clue that the drastic measures put in place to fight the global pandemic will last until the summer is the fact that the Canadian border will remain closed to non-American foreigners until at least June 30.

Government officials did not explicitly mention that date during the announcement two weeks ago. Rather, it was buried in the formal government order that enacted the drastic measure.

Already, some federal organizations are preparing for the fact that Canadians will most likely be told to stay home throughout April.

On Monday, the Canada Revenue Agency set out a memo to employees telling them the order to work from home if their work is deemed “non-essential” is extended from April 5 to May 1.

If they cannot work from home because of IT limitations, illness or family issues such as caring for children during school closures, then they are asked to go on paid leave.