That's a really good sign.
Because we're going into lockdown. It should be just like March. But, it's not. It is certainly not great. We've lost a lot and we're about to lose more. Depending on how you look at it. Christmas 2020 will certainly be....different. But, there is something special about all this. It's hard to put my finger on it, exactly. What can be special about a world-wide pandemic that has taken the lives of over 1.5 M people and disrupted the lives and livelihoods of billions more? Maybe 'special' is not the right word. Last year, I did not know who you were. I was not completely aware of the vastness of the world and it's humanity. Nor did I understand how the circumstances of hardship and deprivation could make all of us so deeply connected.
We all are connected. In ways that no one in our lifetime, in generations of lifetimes has experienced. It is strangely comforting. I will join you and you will join me in whatever harsh yet beautiful and wondrous ways that Christmas always is. Wondrous, wonderful, beautiful, silent, holy...Christmas. It will come to us all as we sit in strange circumstances. Alone and perhaps lonely but very, very connected.
Tonight, the lack of toilet paper frenzy and the relative quiet of the grocery store signalled to me that we have a new found strength, resilience and resolve this time around. And these are the qualities that will take us to the end of this remarkable thing. We will get there, no doubt at all.
An novel variant of the novel carona-virus, COVID -19 ( now called 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant or SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01...gotta love these science geeks and the names they banter about, is now out there.
Don't be alarmed. This was expected. This is how viruses that have spread widely behave. They mutate as they divide, replicate and spread. This variant virus appears to be much more transmissible. It may be 70 % more transmissible with an R value of 1.5, instead of 1.1 which is the R-value of the COVID-19 we've been living with for the last 10 months.
Kent/South East England saw an increase in the 14-day case rate from 100 cases per 100,000 population in week 41 of 2020 to over 400 per 100,000 in week 50 of 2020.
More transmissible but no indication, so far, that this variant causes more serious or deadly disease.
What does all this mean? We have turned a new corner in the ongoing saga of COVID-19. An expected and anticipated corner. It means that strict adherence to public health guidelines needs to be more strict than ever. It's part of the reason why we are being asked to hunker down in our homes again: avoid non-essential travel, and any gatherings inside or outside of your home bubble, essential workers go to work and everyone else works from home and always, always wear a mask when going out for essentials.
No cases of this new virus identified in Canada, yet but it is likely to come. We are ready for it. We are more resilient, stronger, wiser and more educated than we were in terrifying March. No toilet paper frenzy this time.
I am not more afraid. I am just more resolved to keep going and to see this thing to the end.
Stay strong folks. Vaccines have arrived and we have the scientific technology to change those up to keep up with any variants. Much like the flu shot, it needs to be re-formulated every year to keep up with the variations in the flu virus.
Premier Ford has given us a Christmas Day reprieve. I get that and the reasons why but it's very, very dangerous to assume that we can host any gatherings outside of our bubbles. We cannot and we must not. Your health care system is teetering on the brink. Seventy percent of ICU beds are usually filled with accident victims, post-op patients suffering complications, patients with heart attacks and aneurysms. If we fill those beds with COVID patients......the trickle down effect is deadly.
January and February will not be easy. Stay connected. Let's take care of each other. Be kind and oh so patient.
Anne-Marie
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CMHA WW Website: www.cmhaww.ca
Here 24/7 at 1-844-HERE-247 or www.here247.ca.
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