Tuesday 3 November 2020

Slow, steady, measured, even....That's Canadian!



It's a migraine night. This post will be short. The computer screen makes my head pound.
The world seems like such a dark place on the eve of the election in the USA. New cases of COVID 19 are surging in France, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands with many of these countries imposing a second set of strict lockdown measures. Europe is closing. It is the smart thing to do when the virus gets out of control.
Take a look at the John's Hopkins COVID 19 map again:
Click onto several countries. Refer to the bottom right hand corner. You will see the second wave illustrated for each country. Some countries are already experiencing a reduction in the rate of increase of their curves. Now look at Canada's curve. It has not peaked but it has slowed. That's great news.
Remember the beginning of this thing? We watched what other countries were suffering and we quickly closed up. Now we're watching the effects of an out of control second wave in these same countries.
We have a choice to make. Will we learn from their experience and continue with a steady, measured, even response that prevents a massive surge? I think we already are.
The numbers are still trending upwards but experts are saying we are likely heading in the right direction. It is expected that we will settle into a range of 800 to 1200 new daily cases for the next several weeks.
What does this mean? Stay strong. Do not be discouraged. Discouragement and hopelessness drain us of our resolve and our energy to keep persisting. We are doing this. Just wear that mask, wash those hands and limit, limit, limit your social gatherings. Reduce the number of people you come in contact with by 25%.....now. Or, just stick close to home and avoid unnecessary contact altogether. This will curb the second wave, get us over it's peak and push us onto the downward slope. Sliding down. That's what I want to see. Just a couple of weeks and we open up, not shut down.
Outbreaks in Vancouver and Manitoba are all linked to large gatherings in people's homes with each newly infected party goer spreading the virus to 50 to 100 other people AFTER the party.
We can party later. Just imagine the new surge in hope and energy that will hit us like a tidal wave when several vaccines enter into their final approval process and hit the market in the new year. It will take time and incredible coordination and collaboration federally and provincially to get every Canadian vaccinated ( and for folks who object to vaccines, we just need 70 % to be immune to COVID- 19. There is room for your objection). Our governments have already proven how well they can lead us and how well they can work together for what is best for the health of all Canadians; not perfect but pretty damn great.
I am pretty proud of all you mask wearing, social distancing, hand washing, non-gathering folks. Pretty proud.
Anne-Marie
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