A different kind of Christmas

I am wrapping gifts tonight. The tree is up. Funny, I have been cooking up a storm and stressing about it too. That's kinda funny considering there is no crowd joining our Christmas table this year. I felt compelled to cook anyway. I even tried my hand at my first English Christmas pudding. I started making that a week ago. I still prepared for a crowd and it felt good. No traditions lost, the house full of Christmas cheer, ready for whatever comes. I have found it quite comforting.

Creatures of comfort and habit, we are.

This evenings information:

The new variant of COVID-19 has not been detected in Canada yet but labs are testing and watching closely for it's arrival. This is a very good time to lock down and prevent it's spread if it by chance it is here. It is highly infectious and easily spread but how public health guidelines are just as effective, if we follow them.

Scientists around the world are now confident that this new variant is not more deadly. It does not cause a more serious illness and that the new vaccines will be effective against it.

Get tested if you have symptoms or if you have had a close exposure to COVID-19. We need to find this new variant and track it if it is out there.

A Health Canada decision on the approval of the new Moderna vaccine is imminent; a second tool for our infantry.

Get vaccinated as soon as you can.

Wrap things up tight ( excuse the wrapping pun). We are in for a possibly perilous couple of months. But lets start this dark time by celebrating. Being grateful and generous are powerful tools that may just elevate your spirit higher than you thought possible this Christmas.

You are part of a remarkable global and local community. We are all riding this out together and in short order, I will be able to say that spring is around the corner.

Anne-Marie

Please share

For those who are struggling emotionally, you are not alone. Please reach out.

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/

For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here:

https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/

And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here:

https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-

NO TOILET PAPER FRENZY!!!

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

Please share.

For those who are struggling emotionally, you are not alone. Please reach out.

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/

For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here:

https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/

And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here:

https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-

THE CRUNCH!

This is it folks. The dark days of winter we all worried about when the virus was predicted to peak in a second wave, just as the most important family holiday of the year arrives.

Here is where we dig deep. It's like the final battle of the war which we have already won. The number of casualties of that war is now up to us and whether we are willing to follow the restrictions which will be announced from Queens Park at 1 pm.

Here is where we join forces and do what is best for all, what allows all of us to survive and then......thrive as the vaccine continues to roll out. We survive by doing what it takes to protect everyone from getting the virus and to protect our most vulnerable people who will suffer the economic and financial fall out of a second lockdown and to those who will suffer from the isolation and fear.

We can do this and we can do this well. The vaccines we have now will protect against a new variant of COVID 19 and the vaccines we created in the future can be adjusted to fight against new variants that might evolve.

Fearless. Do the right thing and be fearless. Caring for our neighbours and those in need is the best way to find that strength that you know you have. Persevere. The end is close!! Dig into the deepest parts of YOU to find all that is strong, honourable and good......and let's celebrate Christmas 2020 with our hearts and souls.

Stay tuned. I will write another post outlining the new restrictions tonight while listening to Silent Night!

Anne-Marie

Please share.

For those who are struggling emotionally, you are not alone. Please reach out.

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/

For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here:

https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/

And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here:

https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-

 And....... a new day. Refreshed and renewed and... SO back on track.

My apologies for posting so many times in the last 10 days. We are in the middle of a second wave, vaccines have arrived and none of us really know what to do on December 25th.

Sending you a quick update on the so called, 'new strain' of COVID-19 that may be in Europe, that may be more transmissible and that has caused the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnston, to institute even tighter restrictions on the country over Christmas.

Throughout the course of this pandemic, Canada has lagged several weeks behind Europe. If there is a new and more transmissible strain, it may reach our shores in a few weeks. Please remember that the messenger RNA vaccines are highly focused on the spike protein of the COVID 19 virus. It is very doubtful that the spike protein has changed and very, very likely that the vaccines that are arriving in a steady stream in this country will be effective against any existing strain of COVID 19.

In the meantime, add this to the list of reasons not to gather over Christmas. If a highly transmissible strain is out there, our major defences against it have not changed: Wear a good quality three layer mask at all times in public, preferably one with a polypropylene layer. Stay six feet apart at all times. When you are in the company of people outside your home bubble ( at work, in a store and even in your home if gathering is necessary) wash your hands frequently.

A person who lives alone can join your household for now. No more than five can gather inside but if any of the five are not apart of your household bubble they must keep a six foot distance at all times and wear a mask. If the Premier of Ontario locks southern Ontario down, the rules may change on Monday.

If you follow these guidelines at all times, the risk of transmission of COVID-19 from you and to you is extremely low. This protects our friends, family and co-workers. If there is a highly transmissible strain of COVID-19 out there, these guidelines will still work and the messenger RNA technology can be modified if need be.

Stay focused and keep a clear and un-muddied perspective: Christmas will not be the same but my guess is, human innovation and creativity will make it a day we will not forget. It will have it's special moments because we will create special moments. Millions of vaccines will roll out in 2021. Frankly, I don't care when as long as we all have access to it by the fall. The virus cannot survive if 70 % of us are immune to it and there is mounting evidence that not only do we develop immunity but when we are immune we do not transmit to other people. The vaccines are proving to be some of the most effective vaccines humankind has ever created. With power like this, when we all work together for the good of all, what virus can stand against us?

Be of great cheer. Six days until Christmas. Time to give, give, give. Find those in need and share what you have. Most of us are blessed beyond. Too whom much is given, much is expected and we all feel so much better when we focus on others.

Anne-Marie

Please share

For those who are struggling emotionally, you are not alone. Please reach out.

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/

For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here:

https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/

And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here:

https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-give/

An opportunity and a great need:

Seasons Care is currently in need of Emergency Support for LTC homes in Cambridge. This home is currently in COVID-19 Outbreak. We are looking for anyone who is willing to be onsite to assist the homes throughout this very challenging time. The length of the contract will be pending the home’s outbreak status (2 weeks minimum).

To apply, visit: https://seasonscare.com/career/emergency-support-hamilton/

Our present, harsh reality.

 

They are crying over Zoom while their loved one takes their last breath. There is no response from the patient. They cannot speak. A tube has kept them alive until this moment.

( Dr. Michael Warner, ICU specialist- Michael Garron Hospital, Toronto. See CBCnews.ca -Toronto doctor shares powerful story of COVID-19 patients in hospital).

Dying this way is de-humanizing. Alone. With your family weeping through an iPad.

Dying needlessly. This is happening in ICU's all across this country.

86 people died this way in Ontario since Monday. There are people and families behind these numbers.

We are tracking above the worst case scenario outlined in modelling presented on December 10th.

I know you are accustomed to positivity in these posts. But this....there is nothing positive about it.

Don't go to the mall this weekend. Do not gather. Stay home. Love the people you normally see at this time of year. Deeply and selflessly love them.....by not seeing them.

Your health care team is exhausted. Heartbreaking scenes like this repeated over and over again forever change who you are. We will keep standing for you. That is our commitment, our professional oath, to you.

Doctors and nurses, we are a proud bunch. They won't beg but I will plead for them.

Please, Please stay home. Don't gather. If someone is joining you for Christmas, a family member who lives alone or a adult child coming home from University, wear masks and stay six feet apart.

Be selfless.

No doubt about it, we have been dealt a nasty blow. We can overcome. And, we will.

Anne-Marie

Please share.

For those who are struggling emotionally, you are not alone. Please reach out.

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/

For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here:

https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/