It is raining, but, it is green and that's a good start!

I do my best in these posts, not to take any political stance. My excuse tonight, this is not political it is medical.

DON'T DRINK cleaning products as a way to fight COVID 19
and DON’T take hydroxychloroquine. The president of the United States stated today that he is taking hydroxychloroquine for COVID 19 and that hundreds of health care workers are taking it too. This is unequivocally false. Chloroquine is not approved for use to treat COVID 19. It is a drug that can have serious side effects and complications when it is not being used appropriately. God help us and God Bless America.

I am taking a deep breath and aiming for kindness, not rage. Just give me a minute. Can you hear it? That's the sound of me running down my drive way screaming.

Enough of that idiotic nonsense. On to the good news for the day. In the last 24 hours, Ontario had the lowest number of ICU admissions since March 22 and the lowest number of hospital admissions since April 26. Sadly, there were 23 deaths, the lowest number since April 12th.

And now, Phase 1 of Ontario re-opening.

More workplaces will be back up and running tomorrow. For those of you heading back to work, please remember, that strict guidelines have been put into place to keep you safe.

Business owners are making some final adjustments

Virus sheilds, plexiglass, masks, a limited number of people in a shop, ‘safe to stand’ markers on the ground, wiping down surfaces constantly, these are all necessary measures and if they are being followed, YOU WILL BE SAFE. Be careful but be confident. A shout out to the businesses that have successfully done this in the past week. Our grocery stores have done an excellent job. Nurseries are already open. One shining example is Royal City Nursery in Guelph. It may be a more frustrating experience but your health needs to be the primary objective in these work spaces. If you enter a shop or a nursery that does not have any COVID restrictions in place, do not enter.

There is a game plan and we are all part of it.

1/ Just as we begin to re-open the economy, our Minister of Health, Christine Elliot has given the green light to testing anyone who has symptoms. If you have respiratory symptoms like a cold or a cough, please call your doctor for advice or head to the COVID 19 clinic. We are ready for this. To keep everyone safe, we need to expand our testing and track the contacts of anyone who is positive and quarantining anyone with the virus. This is an extremely important measure that will dramatically reduce the chances of a second surge.

2/ For the rest of us, working from home, limiting non-essential travel, staying within our social bubbles, < 5 in a gathering and six feet of distance is still absolutely necessary. Your job is to very carefully continue to follow these restrictions. This will allow that 5 day rolling average of new cases to continue to decline so that we can open up our social bubbles and start getting back to that much needed social community we are all craving for.

3/ There is sufficient acute and critical care hospital capacity to respond to potential surges, if they happen. Early hospitalization saves lives.

Be strong and courageous. We can do this. We have to do this. You are safe. If you fall, join me as I run screaming down my driveway. We all feel the stress. Let's support each other by talking about how this feels. It is hard.

I pray that you will sleep well. Remember that beautiful medical team and that protective shield around you.

As stated before, we continue to SMASH this!

Anne-Marie

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For local assistance with anxiety and depression:
www.here4help.ca
CMHA WW Website: www.cmhaww.ca
Here 24/7 at 1-844-HERE-247 or www.here247.ca.
And for post-secondary students, Good2Talk
https://good2talk.ca/