A lovely patient brought me a coffee this afternoon. I was in PPE all day; flu shots, pneumonia vaccines, skin cancer treatments, ear infections, lumps and bumps, migraine headaches. This stuff just has to be seen in the office. We received a huge shipment of surgical masks months ago but unfortunately, they are all too big. They practically fall off of our ears. Remember that barrel of monkeys from decades ago? One of those monkeys works very well as an ear saver that holds the loops of the mask at the back of your head, making the mask tighter with a safer fit. I guess I was pretty desperate. In between patients, flipping one of the loops off to take a drink is quick and easy but not when a monkey has a grip on both loops.
In frustration, I yanked the mask above my nose. This is not the proper way to wear a mask but the coffee was delicious.
I remember doing a similar thing in March when the pandemic was new and we were all locked in an terrified. I brought a Tim Horton's coffee to my lips only to realize that an N 95 mask was in the way.
Do you remember March? Think back for a second. That was dark and very, very difficult.
We are not in that place now. Cases are surging but this time our future is not unknown. We know about this virus. We know there will be a vaccine very, very soon. We know that vaccine will be very effective and safe and that it will be the next tool we need to conquer COVID 19 and we will conquer COVID 19. Don't forget that as we listen to the grim projections forecasting 6500 cases a day in Ontario in just a few weeks.
We need to return to staying at home, staying in very tight bubbles and religiously wearing a mask and social distancing when we are out of our bubbles and our homes.
Yep. I am going to pull out some good news in all this mess.
1/ We have successfully opened our schools. Kids are back where they need to be and it is highly unlikely that schools will be closed again leaving parents with the ability to work and kids with the ability to learn. We have not seen the transmission we worried so much about. Kids with masks on who spend the day looking toward the front of the class, are not spreading the virus even if they are not 6 feet apart. In our region, COVID 19 in schools is coming from people outside the school who have gathered in social settings, picked up the virus and passed it on to their kids.
2/ No cases of the flu yet and evidence from the Southern Hemisphere where the cold and flu season has just ended shows us that the incidence of the flu is dramatically reduced because mask wearing reduces the spread of the flu as well as COVID 19. There is early evidence that people who have received a flu vaccine in the past are less likely to get COVID 19.
3/ The spike in COVID 19 cases across the province are, for the most part, linked to small indoor gatherings where people were not wearing masks. The flip side of this is that public health now has the ability to track cases so that we know how transmissions are happening. And, we know that masks work.
4/ We have more cases because people are not adhering to guidelines. The flip side of that is that when we get back to adhering to guidelines the cases will come down again
5/ There have been no staff to patron transmissions in restaurants in our public health region. Masks and distancing work.
6/ O yeah, it's worth repeating. A vaccine is close at hand. It will require a herculean effort to distribute it to all Canadians but we have time to plan that.
Take home message: we expected a second wave and it is here. Whether it feels like it or not, we have developed a new strength and resilience over the last 8 months, individually, as a community and as a country. That may be hard to recognize but it is there.
Courage my friends: to collectively follow the next steps recommended to us, to keep adhering to public health guidelines and to keep our faith in a bright future.
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Our next webinar may be next week. We are working on it. The planning committee believes we need it sooner than later.
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