The new face of COVID

The new face of COVID 19

I escaped from the office at noon hour yesterday. It is rare that I can leave my desk for more than a few minutes but we needed groceries.

I realized that something had shifted between the last time I did a grocery run and now. First, the shades. It is warm and sunny. Time to wear sunscreen and sunglasses. Then the mask. There are so many out there now that you can choose a mask that matches the outfit and the glasses. COVID Chic! And finally, what you don't see is the smile behind the mask. It was the first time I went into the store with confidence. Fearless. It is a much better way to live....fearlessly.

I think it is pretty cool, this new COVID 19 look. I am so impressed with all my patients who knock on the back door for their in-office appointments. We have masks for them but by far, most are now wearing their own. So many colours and styles. We have adapted! Well done. I find myself being quite envious of some of the masks. Instead of talking about hair cuts and new clothes, we are talking about masks.

This is not a small thing, this rapid adaptation and change in social behaviour. It often takes years for human behaviour to adapt or change. We have done it in weeks. Wouldn't it be great if we could use these newly found skills of adaptation to change the behaviours required to rescue our environment? We could do that if we put our minds to it and if we worked together.

A shout out to Zehr's on Eramosa in Guelph. I have been shopping there for over 35 years. I have grown up with the staff. The store is clean, well organized, well stocked and well spaced. There was no disorder or breach of physical distancing rules. Everyone seemed calm and polite. A store doesn't just end up being low risk for COVID 19 transmission. It takes good leaders and great staff to make it that way. Thank you my friends. You are fellow front line workers.

A short post tonight. I went out for a power walk last night at 8:30. The mosquitos chased me home. I ended up jogging. Vigorous exercise before bed keeps older folks like me up all night. I am tired.

Three hundred new cloth masks were sent off to the First Nations community of Anishnabeg. Thanks Bev. This group of Facebook followers makes them and you get them to where they need to be. Love it!

A beloved patient of mine brought me a very nice bottle of red wine today. She thought I needed to balance out the bottle of white I received on Monday. I looked pretty suspicious walking out of my office this afternoon with a bottle of wine in each hand. Ashely donated her birthday money and Patricia brought us banana bread, just out of the oven. Jennifer dropped off 40 surgical gowns which the community desperately needs. I reached out to her and her group this morning. The gowns were in my office by 1 pm! It's all happening at our back door which today, we coloured up in bright chalk.

You are all bright lights on a rainy day and in a world that seems temporarily dark. Look up. The light is everywhere.

I am disappointed that the following facts were not reported in the news today. Good news does not routinely make the headlines.

There were 292 new cases in Ontario today- UNDER 300 for the second day in a row which drops our R value to below one again. Remember the replication value? If it is under 1 it means that one person infected with COVID 19 is transmitting it to less than 1 person which means the spread of the virus has slowed to the point where the community spread can stop altogether.

And remember the doubling time of the virus ? About four weeks ago the number of new cases was doubling every 37 days. Now it is doubling every 60.9 days! At the beginning of the pandemic in Canada it doubling every 2.75 days.

That is a community working collectively to crush a pandemic. My nerdy scientific heart sees this as a beautiful thing. Nothing negative here only reasons to celebrate.

Keep moving forward. Keep up the physical distancing, the mask wearing and the no more than 5 gathering routines. Socialize form a distance. Get outside to exercise and remind your weary hearts of why they should be so encouraged.

Anne-Mare

That wasn't short was it. Don't get me started!

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So many folks are suffering emotionally and financially. Reach out if you need help and donate if you can,

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.
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https://good2talk.ca/

And to help the vulnerable.

Relief efforts in Lesotho:

https://www.braceletofhope.ca/covid-in-lesotho/

Relief efforts in Guelph:

https://www.guelphcf.ca/