Today was a good day. I was able to see almost a third of my scheduled patients in the office. In the first two weeks of the pandemic, I saw only a few and most of them in the parking lot. They all had upper respiratory symptoms and three of them tested positive for COVID 19. I was swabbing people in my parking lot through their car windows. It was cold , it was snowing, it was surreal. There were a lot of sick people. Only a handful were tested, the rest were sent home to self isolate. I think many of them had COVID 19. There are virtually no calls from people with cold or flu-like symptoms now. The odd patient with these symptoms are sent to the COVID 19 clinic. We have come so far in the last two months. In Guelph, we have had only five new cases of COVID 19 in the last 2 weeks and no new cases in the last 3 days. For those of you who returned to work today, that is really good news. Your community is safe.
I have so much PPE thanks to your donations, that I can select my favourite mask from the wide variety of N95's out there. This is by far my favourite. You know life has changed when, instead of selecting my favourite jeans at a retail story, I am excited by the selection of N95's I have in the office. We don't need N95's in the office setting. They will all be donated to people in the health care system who are at greatest risk of contracting COVID 19. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh, and by the way, I am standing just inside the 'back door' where more masks and funds and food were delivered today. Thank you to Pam Fanjoy who made us an amazing lunch. Check her out folks. Her food is amazing (https://chefpamfanjoy.com/).
A message about disposable gloves: DON'T WEAR THEM!
For the general public, regular hand washing is actually a better way to ward off COVID-19 than wearing gloves. This is guidance from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The agency does recommend social distancing and wearing a face mask in public as preventative measures but they say that wearing protective gloves can lead to trouble if the wearer touches a contaminated surface and then touches their face. The virus can infect people by entering their eyes, nose or mouth. Gloves need to be put on carefully and taken off with greater care. Health professionals are trained to do this. If you are not trained there is a good chance you will contaminate yourself while wearing the gloves and especially when removing them. Gloves give you a false sense of security. When in public, don't touch your face until you have returned home and washed your hands for 20 seconds with warm soapy water. I sound like a broken record but this is so important especially now that we are returning to work. Masks, distance, hand washing....NO GLOVES unless it is mandatory to do so in your workplace.
Gloves off people!
It was a great day because I can sense the we are safely returning to some semblance of 'normal'. The highlight of the day? First off, it's great to say there was a highlight. But, the highlight was getting my hands on a pregnant belly and finding that fetal heart for the first time. A soon-to-be first time parent always cries when they hear that and, thirty years on in practise, I do too. That baby will come into this world bringing joy as will many, many more. Life continues in it's miraculous way regardless of our temporary struggles and that, my friends, is a beautiful thing.
By way of notice, there is a webinar tomorrow night from 7 to 8 pm that will address the Impact of COVID-19 on Youth Mental Health & Substance Abuse in Guelph and Wellington County. Register here if you are interested:
We have exceeded $12,000 in donations. Here are the links to donate online.
Relief efforts in Lesotho:
Efforts in Guelph:
Have a blessed evening and a good sound sleep. All will be well.
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