A potentially greater threat to Canada: the U.S.
The epidemic in Iran may lead to spread the COVID-19 virus widely in the Middle East, but when it comes to Canada, Iran is not the source Dr. Fisman and many of his colleagues are most concerned about. Canada is relatively unconnected with Iran, which makes it possible we can successfully deal with the flow of infected people from that nation.
"I think for Canada, the place we're really connected to is the United States," he said. While he has great respect for his public health colleagues in the U.S., "Some of the politics there really looks ... from this side of the border, like it might be interfering with their outbreak response."
He also points to technical problems the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has had with testing kits, that may have hampered their ability to test as thoroughly as we're doing in Canada, which, he said, "To my mind suggests they're probably missing a lot more cases than we are."