A special mask

Almost 30 years ago, I had my first baby. Funny describing him as a baby now. I had started my medical practise a few months before and I was delivering babies. It was a marvellous time of life. In August of 1990, my medical partner at the time, Dr. Chris Rathwell ( loved that man), took the month of August off and headed up to his cottage leaving me in charge of his large practise and his caseload of deliveries. Seven months pregnant, thankfully young enough to tolerate days without sleep, I delivered 18 babies that month. They are all turning 30 this year. Unbelievable. I became very close to all the labour and delivery nurses. I loved that team. The L and D nurse who helped me through my own labour and delivery, Shirley Reed, was an angel that day and night and part of another day. I couldn't have survived it without her. I have had the privilege of having Shirley in my practise all this time. I love her dearly. She made me this very special mask for me. Words of hope: Faith, Joy, Peace, Rejoice. Words to live by. I will cherish this mask and wear it with pride. Thank you Shirley.

How are we doing out there? We are shifting into month five with COVID 19. None of us will ever be the same but look how well we have done. Phase 3 begins on Friday in many parts of Ontario. Many of you may be nervous about this. Some reassurance; we have been in phase two for over four weeks with a significant number of businesses re-opening. And today, Ontario recorded only 102 cases. Despite a loosening of restrictions, the number of cases in this province continues to fall. I think that is pretty amazing. Why are we doing so well? Masks and physical distancing. In the last four weeks more and more people have been wearing masks in public spaces and in the last two weeks, the majority of municipalities in the province made masks mandatory.

Masks and physical distancing work exceptionally well at reducing the community transmission of COVID 19. Neither works without a population who follows these public health guidelines. Thank you for being a smart, thoughtful, wise and trusting group of people.

We now have definitive evidence that shows that masks work.
79% of Canadians support mandatory masks country wide.

Cases are starting to rise in other provinces. Alberta, BC, Manitoba and Quebec have all seen slight upticks in cases, all of them related to gatherings where physical distancing and mask wearing did not occur. Montreal is dealign with an outbreak with 30 new cases of COVID 19 since July one all in folks who frequented 9 bars in the city.

COVID 19 is no longer completely mysterious to us. We understand so much more about this virus. We are watching what happens when leaders are unable to encourage adherence to these guidelines. Florid, Texas and California now have 1 M cases combined. Florida has 300,000 cases and 10,000 people hospitalized. Hundreds are dying every week. I will be blunt. This is the direct result of the leaders in that state refusing to enforce public health measures. We don't need anymore proof of what we need to continue doing.

I had a rush of pride today which brought me to tears, briefly. I was driving home and glanced at the car sitting next to me at a traffic light. The driver had their mask dangling from one ear. I saw this same thing on the news an hour later. People who are no longer in a public space are keeping their masks handy and ready to wear. Love it.

Can we continue on this course? Can we keep this up until a vaccine arrives? You bet we can. I have not doubt. Wear a mask everywhere in public. Keep your distance from people who are not in your bubble, both indoors and outdoors where possible. Get comfortable with this. It is difficult. So, as we get comfortable and as this becomes routine, through in some kindness, some faith, joy and peace. Rejoice in the face of adversity. We have so much to be grateful for.

Next stop, some very encouraging news about vaccines and COVID Q and A part 2, unless something major happens in the next 24 hours which is pretty common now adays.

Thank you my friends. Be strong and well.

Anne-Marie

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