COVID Q and A Post #2

Might be best to review COVID Q and A Part 1 first. Click on this link: https://bit.ly/2WuxdYx.

It's getting a little rough out there. Very important to stay focused on the facts and tune out the news that provokes anxiety and confusion. We are still in the midst of a pandemic. It is still the same virus. How the virus behaves and spreads has not changed. It still causes the same illness and we are still smashing it! Eighty percent have mild to moderate symptoms with a complete recovery. Twenty percent have a more serious illness. In Canada, at the present time, less than 2 % are dying of COVID 19. The fear and confusion waxes and wanes and is beginning to cause more illness than the virus itself. Stay focused. Follow the guidelines and you will be fine. Regardless of how overwhelming this is, life goes on. The good stuff still happens and the problem with being overwhelmed and fearful is that we stop seeing the good stuff. I am guilty of this. It's like there is this subconscious tape that is always running in my head that blasts into my consciousness way too often: "There is a pandemic out there. It is changing everything. It's a threat. The future is uncertain. Will my family be OK? Will my friends be OK? I hate missing all the things I am missing. Will this end?"

It goes on and on. I want to smash that tape. Replaying it in my head does nothing to stem the effects of the virus but is does everything to spoil the day and rob me of joy. So, learning to live in the moment is key.

Babies bring us into the moment. I saw this little one this week with her proud new mom. I expect these babes to cry when they see my mask but, they don't. They focus on my eyes and my eyes are full of joy when I see them. Joy is not a threat. It never is. Joy makes more joy. And there it is. Life continuing on, joyful moments still all around, fear suppressed or maybe erased. At least for a moment.

IF you are struggling emotionally, please reach out. Help is there. See the links at the end of this post.

COVID Q and A #6

Wait. I have to repeat #5 here because the answer has changed.

5/ What do you think the likelihood of a vaccine or treatment or treatment is anytime soon?

It is no longer my best prediction that there will be a safe and effective vaccine. The scientific community is much further along in vaccine production. A vaccine is not yet a sure thing but it is very promising that by 2021 we will have one or more. There are now 155 vaccine trials in various stages of development around the world. Twenty three have progressed to using the vaccine on humans.

And new research shows that the virus in not mutating. THE VIRUS IN NOT MUTATING. Makes an HIV specialist and a virus geek, very excited. In 25 years of research, we are yet to find an effective vaccine for HIV. Effective treatment for those infected, yes, vaccine, no. Why? Because the HIV virus mutates so much. This means that the virus in one person has a slightly different shape than the virus in another and the virus in one person can change it's shape or surface characteristics so that the virus they have today is different from the one they may have in 2 months. Impossible to create a vaccine to hit a target that is constantly moving. Looks like that is not so with COVID 19. Virus today is likely the same as the one we'll have in 2021. Vaccine that is made today, effective for the virus when the same vaccine is proven to be safe and effective one year from now.

Take home message: Hold on folks. This will end.

6/ Can I visit my friends at a social distance and if I do can I use their bathroom or go inside the house.

Phase 3 guidelines as of today, 100 can gather, physically distanced outside and 50 can gather physically distanced inside. You can visit your friend but outside is safer. Keep the distance and yes, you can use their bathroom but wear a mask and wash your hands before and after you enter and your host may want to sanitize the surfaces between each occupant. I have outdoor company coming tomorrow. They are bringing their own chairs and beverages and the bathroom is ready for them, with some minor changes in behaviour required.

Remember, there is more and more evidence that the virus could take to the air and travel farther than six feet but this likely occurs indoors where lots of people are gathered without masks and without physical distancing.

Man. I talk too much. We will need COVID Q and A post #3.

Have a blessed weekend. Remember, you may not be feeling any joy at all but joy is out there, none the less.

Anne-Marie

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For equal access to treatment in Lesotho!
https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-give/

Lets keep our local charities strong by donating here:
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For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here:
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Check out a great place for mental health support here:
https://familyserviceguelph.on.ca/

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/