I must apologize. I have ranted in the last few posts. Lashing out at bad government decisions is not usually my style and it feels undignified. I believe it was necessary and it may be necessary in the future. I can think of nothing more important than the health of our families and community and the education of our children .....other than God if you are a person of faith.
Check out this link from Ryan Imgrund to see the huge percentage of children off sick right now ( due to COVID and other illnesses).
https://twitter.com/imgrund/status/1514071441293074434?cxt=HBwWhICz7Yb9h4MqAAAA&cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%3D%3D&refsrc=email
Up to 20 % of school staff in the province is off sick. There is a shortage of relief teachers so the remaining staff are struggling to keep up. I would imagine it is impossible to teach when the system around you is in utter chaos.
As for the Ontario health care system? I will do my best not to disintegrate into a rant here. I cannot believe that after two years of managing the extra needs of my patients due to COVID-19 that those needs have increased exponentially in the last month. If you have time, read this CBC article and you'll get a sense of what it is like to be a family physician right now.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/first-person-family-medicine-quebec-health-reforms-technology-workload-1.6417193
I would imagine that being an exhausted emergency room doctor/ nurse or an ICU physician/nurse is getting to be an impossible and exhausting challenge right now too.
Think of where we would be without education and healthcare. I had a conversation about this last night as I did my daily power walk with a dear friend. Without these precious provincial resources we disintegrate into chaos. We become a failed state with a reduced life expectancy, expanding poverty and homelessness with increasing hopelessness, helplessness and lawlessness.
Is that what we want? Is that what we will allow?
I share my deepest gratitude to the staff, teachers and healthcare workers who, after two long years, are still trying to hold these systems together while our leaders focus on their political aspirations. That's a small rant and I did my best to avoid it but there it is.
Some real numbers.....because we need them.
The estimated number of new cases of COVID 19 was 3764 yesterday which is up 548 over the previous week. This number likely exceeds 120,000 according to waste water signals in Ontario. The percent positivity is up to an astounding 18%.
There were 1399 people in hospital with COVID -19 yesterday, up 271 from the previous week. ICU admissions were at their highest in 2 months at 190 up 17 from the previous week and the number of deaths at 13 up 4 from the previous week.
No matter how you look at it, this is a sixth wave that is as punishing as the last. Only half the population had third doses at the start of this wave. March was a time to put a vaccine campaign together to encourage everyone to get a third dose. It was not a time for governments to leave us to fend for ourselves.
Some updates:
1/ Everyone over 12 can now get a third dose.
2/ Everyone over 60 can get a booster dose ( fourth dose)
3/ Paxlovid is an anti-viral medication given to people with COVID-19 who are symptomatic and at risk for developing serious illness. It is not a preventative treatment. In order to receive this medication you must have a positive PCR test so, our assessment centres will now provide PCR tests to members of this symptomatic group. The test must be positive before paxlovid is prescribed. It is a five day course of treatment, one tablet twice a day for five days.
Effective today, more high-risk, symptomatic groups are eligible to be tested and assessed for antiviral treatments, such as Paxlovid.
-Immunocompromised people 18 years and over
-People who are 70 years and older
-People 60 and over with fewer than three vaccine doses
-People 18 years and over with fewer than three vaccine doses and at least one risk condition such as a chronic medical condition
To repeat. This medication is not for patients who want to reduce their risk of getting COVID-19. You must be symptomatic with a positive PCR test. Family doctors were a bit hoodwinked when it was announced this week that we would be ready to provide you with prescriptions for this medication. We may not be. This is a medication with many drug interactions and we are obliged to become knowledgeable about any new mediation before we prescribe. That may take many of us more than a day. For now, symptomatic people in the aforementioned groups can attend our COVID Assessment Centre for a PCR test. If it is possible a prescription can be written by your prescriber or the specialist they designate to prescribe. We are not miracle workers. We are human and what has been expected of us during this pandemic has required super powers we did not know we possessed. Oh for a government that respected us as humans. They don't.
Easter weekend is almost upon us. The medical/scientific community fears that there will be a significant surge in new cases as we gather without mask mandates. Please be safe. Protect the vulnerable people in your group. Wear a mask for them. Keep windows ajar if you can. Air circulation reduces the risk of transmission. Spend some of your time together outside if possible. Avoid gathering if you are symptomatic or if you have a positive Rapid Antigen Test.
People who have had three vaccines still have good protection against serious illness requiring hospitalization. COVID-19 is now everywhere. If you have not started a vaccine series, please consider it. If you have not received a third dose and you are in an eligible category, book it. It won't help you this coming weekend but it will be very helpful in the coming weeks as we ride the massive tide of this wave.
Anne-Marie
Please share.
For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here:
https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/
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/
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