Personal Protective Equipme

Well? What do you think about my new gown? I have only one new disposable gown left. It is taking weeks to receive any PPE. Once that last gown is used, I won't be able see patients in my office anymore. I have been safely re-using two disposable gowns but one was destroyed during my "locked out of the office running around the building" episode last week.

Christine, my amazing nurse practitioner came to our rescue last week. She found someone who could quickly make us a couple of gowns. The seamstress used some very interesting material. I think the colour is quite flattering; matches my blonde, soon to be grey 'because hair styling is not considered an essential service' hair.

What I won't do to keep seeing patients who need face to face care in my office.

Lots to review tonight:

The COVID 19 clinic managed to test over 1100 people from Friday to Monday this past week. These swabs all go to the lab at the Guelph General Hospital. Hats off to the medical laboratory technologists who worked their backsides off to get these done. You are just a few of the unsung heroes in this pandemic.

The COVID clinic sent a "swat" team of nurses and nurse practitioners to St. Joe's Health Centre to test every employee on duty and every patient, a massive undertaking. There is not a COVID 19 out break at St. Joes. Their leaders decided to be progressive by staying ahead of the virus and are testing everyone. There are very few communities in the province who are equipped to do this. We are lucky.

You have a marvellous local community COVID team.

Our paramedics are being trained to test. They are preparing to be available to repeat this kind of mass community testing.
( I have a secret love affair with all paramedics and fire fighters. They have my utmost respect and admiration).

And provincially, Ontario health officials say the community spread of COVID-19 in Ontario "appears to have peaked" earlier than originally expected. A month earlier to be exact.

A MONTH EARLIER!!!

We are way ahead of the best case scenario that was projected last month. We expected 80,000 cases in the province by this week. There are only 11,000.

Since those projections were released last month we have lived with many more businesses being closed, many more job losses, tighter physical distancing restrictions in public and stay at home orders that will extend into May.

We have suffered and we will continue to suffer. People will continue to die and many of them in our long term care facilities where the virus continues to surge. My deepest sympathy to those who have lost loved ones in these homes.

But our efforts save thousands and thousands of lives.

It may have been relatively straight forward to close the system down but it will be much more complicated and difficult to turn it back on. Restrictions need to be lifted slowly and carefully according to the science and the advice of our scientists and epidemiologists.

Let's please stay home and let them continue to create a brilliant 'return to normal' plan that allows for the maintenance of our health care system with the fewest lives lost.

Meanwhile at the back door of my office: $6,000 in donations for the COVID 19 clinic and for people who cannot make ends meet at this time, flowers and coffee for my staff, 100 more face shields for our front line workers and...of course, these beautiful gowns. That's a beautiful community under adversity taking action.

Be creative, intelligent and innovative as you continue to learn to survive in isolation. Be kind and generous. There is nothing more powerful than people who are in need themselves giving to others in greater need. That is resilience, strength and grace.

Be very proud tonight. There is reason for such great hope. As one of the followers of these posts stated this week, " We are crushing it".

In unity and strength,

Anne-Marie

Please share.