Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Information and Resources
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Public Health Agency of Canada
With all the information being circulated about COVID-19 please remember these simple facts: If you feel unwell, self isolate, that is the best way to stop the spread. Remember if you have a fever, cough and flu like symptoms do not go to the ER or doctor's office...call Telecare 811 for information. Limit your contact with people. Remember to wash hands with soap and warm water min 20 seconds. Cover your mouth and nose when sneezing/coughing with tissue or into your elbow. Do not touch your mouth, eyes and nose with your hands. Avoid close contact with people. Contact No. for COVID-19 information 1-833-784-4397 Interpretation services are available in multiple languages for those who do not speak English or French Email: phac.info.aspc@canada.ca For up-to-date information, please visit the Canadian Government websites at: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Symptoms and treatment https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/symptoms.html Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Frequently Asked Questions & Resources including Travel Advisories https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19.html#faq Please self-impose a 14 day isolation period if you feel ill, have been in contact with an infected person, or recently returned home from either within or outside of the country. This is for your own protection and the protection of others especially those who are elderly and / or with compromised immune systems and underlying health issues. Pandemic COVID-19 all countries: avoid non-essential travel outside Canada https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/health-safety/travel-health-notices/221 https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/latest-travel-health-advice.html Government of Manitoba For provincial and local information regarding COVID 19, visit the Government of Manitoba’s COVID-19 information and resources page by clicking here: https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/index.html Travel Medical Insurance Please be aware that should you choose to travel outside the country, with the current travel advisories, you will be doing so at your own risk as travel insurance may no longer be covered. Please be sure to check with the Canadian Government and your respective travel insurance provider before venturing out on any trips. For those pensioners who use Medi-Quote Insurance Brokers for their travel insurance, please visit their special webpage for important information and guidance about the Covid-19 Outbreak and Travel Medical Insurance. Please visit their page by clicking this link at: https://www.mediquote.ca/covid-19-information-for-medi-quote-insurance-brokers-clients/ Keeping In TouchEveryone is concerned about their friends and loved ones. Many of our pensioners are single and very elderly. If you have time, pick up the phone and call some of them and see how they are doing with food or medications, or just to talk to.
COVID-19 Interactive MapsClick here to see an interactive map of the Global situation. By clicking on the countries, you can get more detailed information and charts.
To see the situation for Canada and Provinces, click here. Bored? Here are some suggestions!Since there is an advisory against all unnecessary travel, how about taking a virtual trip? Click here and begin your virtual travel experience.
Can't get out to the library - why not read some books for free online by clicking here. |
To Our Pensioners
We have been asked by Reg Hebert, President of the National Council of CN Pensioners to widely share the message below from Dr. Justin Maloney, ER doctor at The Ottawa Hospital. The message is well written and is specifically directed at seniors. It is written in a conversational tone, but the message is clear. Also, be sure to wash your hands frequently, cough or sneeze into your sleeve and bottom line – stay at home! From The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON Dr. Justin Maloney, E.R. Doctor in Ottawa I’m struck by how advisories about distancing and staying 2 metres from others don’t seem to be sticking to “us”. Experience elsewhere says we are on the front edge of a killing spree that will last a month or more. People will get this virus and some will die. Usually, that will be us. Different stats show us that anyone over 60 is at great risk from COVID 19. Kids do OK but carry the virus to spread it. Seniors die, despite best care, in 10-25% of cases. I didn’t make this shit up. Its real. It seems surreal to consider myself as a senior, that “at risk” person. COVID 19 says stay at home, don’t invite family or friends for anything. Stay away from everyone. Ok, maybe not your main squeeze that wakes up beside you each day but anyone else. Don’t invite your son or daughter over. Don’t visit an elderly relative. Don’t go to a bar. Don’t share a cigarette, or a joint. Have a bathroom glass for each of you. Wipe all your surfaces (counters, taps, door knobs, remotes, cell phones, etc.) down with something like Lysol. Be frantic about it. Wash hands before meals and after. You may feel you have your health now. When you don’t, when you have a cough or fever, pay attention to what I said above. Find a separate bedroom, bedding and bathroom. Your own clothes get hot water washed. Wait for it all to subside. If you really have it you will know at day 7 – 10. That is when it gets awful. Keep a medical record or file nearby to help the poor ER doc figure out your past history. Have a will made out now and identify a POA (Power of Attorney) before sudden things happen. If you get sick, think about how you or the POA would answer the “Goals of Care” questions that doctors will ask. (CPR?, ICU?, Ventilators?) We have no treatment for this killer other than social distancing and maintaining your best basic health. We are only in the early stages of this. We see a few thousand cases this week but like other jurisdictions, we can expect perhaps a hundred thousand in coming weeks. In Italy, without early social distancing, COVID 19 has exploded. Rationing has started. No one over 60 will be helped, not in hospital, no ICU/ventilator care. You may think of Italy as less capable and more resource challenged than us. Not at all. They have lots of beds/doctors etc. But they have lots of old people, just like you … OK, and me too. Have virtual celebrations from your own place with others by video conferencing. All of our doctor/hospital meetings are via SKYPE, FaceTime or DUO etc. and now WhatsApp. The thing is, despite a flood of public education, a lot of us still don’t see the risk of contracting COVID 19 as applying to us, us seniors that is. Get over it. You may die if you get this flu. Kids coming to visit will bring it into your space and leave it with you, even if they are not sick. Perhaps pets too by the way. Some of you have returned from travel and are counting the days until quarantine is done and you can get on with your life. The problem is “your life” isn’t going to be any different than quarantine for the next while, perhaps months. Stay home. A birthday celebration should be about making sure there are future birthdays to celebrate. At work this week I was involved with 6 COVID 19 suspects just in the areas we have for minor cases. The patient anxiety was high and it should have been. Don’t be a COVIDIOT! There was a lot to correct in their social patterns in the previous few days. Need toilet paper? Just kidding. But really, there are some things you might need. Groceries, pharmacy, etc. but as this becomes even more alarming shopping online with delivery may make sense. Go out for walks but not for greetings and gatherings. Take me seriously here. No invites for anything. Stay away!, Close your doors … drink if ya like, toast whatever, but use WhatsApp video to do it, I want food and Mount Gay rum and coke this summer, not some funeral with COVDID 19 egg salad sandwiches. And perhaps don’t just stay away from each other, even your family and close friends, until it’s OK. Become champions for this message. You are with few exceptions (ahem !!) smart, respected voices who as seniors need to wake up others in the senior’s community. Sincerely me, worried about you, Justin Maloney, MD, FCFP, CCFP(EM), FRCP(C) Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa Emergency Physician, The Ottawa Hospital Medical Director Emeritus, Regional Paramedic Program For Eastern Ontario The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario |