We are all in this together

Kieran Moore (Medical Officer of Health) | Apr 08, 2020

I am thankful to all of you, the people who live and work in our region, for all you are doing to protect our community, our neighbours, and our loved ones from COVID-19.  

The decisive actions and the changes we have all made these last few weeks are saving lives.

With the three-day holiday weekend coming up, whether you celebrate this as a religious holiday or a long weekend, it’s important we stick with our resolve to protect our families and loved ones, and our communities. I know it’s hard for all of us. Our actions are critical for preventing the spread of COVID-19 and flattening the curve to protect our hospitals from being overwhelmed.

We are all in this together and we each have a role to play. Even through this holiday weekend, we need to hunker down. This means,

Don’t - Travel this weekend or have large gatherings. Cancel all group gatherings of 5 or more outside the same household. Don’t invite family from outside KFL&A to visit.

Do - Practice physical distancing by keeping 2 meters (6 feet) apart from others. Stay connected. Establish a routine of daily check-ins by phone or computer to family and friends.

Video chats are good too; spend time outside and in settings where you can maintain 2 meters distance from others; look after your mental well-being by keeping active, spending time outside, staying in touch with family and friends, and taking breaks from news and social media.

Help people to stay home by offering to drop essentials off at their door step.

Clean your hands regularly, and always after returning home from outside, for at least 20 seconds with soap and water, or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if not visibly dirty.

For some people, there are additional precautions you must take to keep your loved ones and your communities safe and healthy. If you have been diagnosed with COVID-19, or you are a close contact of somebody else who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, you must isolate in your home for 14 days.

If you are a returning traveller from outside Canada, you too, must isolate in your home for 14 days. This means, do not go outside past your property line; reschedule non-essential medical appointments; rely on friends and family to pick up groceries, prescriptions and other supplies, or use delivery services for these items. Be sure to instruct delivery drivers to leave items on your doorstep for you to collect.

In our region, we haven’t seen a significant rise in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19. The number is not increasing rapidly, we’re holding steady. The effort you are making to physically and socially distance, as well as staying isolated if required, and staying home, is working. It is working for us to give us the time we need to prepare our health system.

I am asking you to hold steady. The next month will be especially challenging as we learn to adapt and adopt this new way of living, a way we need to, in order to prevent infection and prevent people in our communities from getting sick and dying.

Physical distancing is key; holiday weekends included.

Dr. Kieran Moore – medical officer of health for Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington.