“Do you think it’s going to be as bad as all that…?”
A lot of my conversations are starting with that question, this week.
Keeping in mind that I’m not an infectious diseases specialist, or a public health official – here’s my opinion.
This virus is very contagious. People with incredibly minimal symptoms can spread it to others. With 115 countries (at the time of my writing this) involved, we have been lucky in Canada to have been able to slow its entry here as much as we have. This should not make us complacent.
What I am recommending to anyone who asks, and what my family is doing ourselves, is social distancing.
This means no group events including team sports, religious services, family reunions, theatre shows, bars (even for St. Patrick’s Day), maple syrup festivals, restaurants, etc.
This means keeping your kids out of group scenarios like school, daycare, sports, group playdates, the pool, etc.
You can still leave your house. You can still go to the grocery store (you really DON’T needs 6 months of toilet paper on hand), but when you’re out and about, try to maintain a 1m distance from others, and wash your hands (for 20 seconds) regularly.
If at any point you’re feeling unwell, stay home. DON’T just come in to the office – we’re not currently well-equipped to deal with this in person. Call the office, or Telehealth (1-866-797-0000), if you’re worried, and we can help you decide what to do.
If we can take some simple steps to slow this down, we can hopefully limit the severity of this in our community. We can make sure that, as people get sick and need our hospital beds, those hospital beds are available for them.
If we continue to wait to act, we run the risk of this getting ahead of us, as it has in other countries, with terrible consequences.