Yesterday was World Health Day and RNAO’s board of directors had a three-hour meeting to celebrate, share and plan ahead. We comforted our president, Dr. Angela Cooper Braithwaite, who had just lost her niece to COVID-19 in New York. To Angela’s family, many of whom I know read this blog – we love you!

Today, Good Friday, April 10, focuses on long term care. I chose this as my report’s focus as their residents are most affected by COVID-19 – in their isolation from loved ones and in the devastating fatalities we as a society have experienced. For the families and friends of residents in nursing homes and retirement homes and especially those who have lost loved ones: our hearts are with you at this difficult time.

Nurses and other health providers continue to raise many questions and concerns regarding PPE. On behalf of RNAO, I have raised concerns regarding shortages, gave advise to government, provided guidance on the use of N95 masks.

Take action: We witnessed a sad event yesterday – the callous tweet by British Columbia MP Marc Dalton, which he then removed. It shows, once again, the devaluing of our elders and also of nursing homes as a sector. Tragically, this exemplifies the thinking behind the decades-long policy decisions to under-fund and under-staff nursing homes pre-COVID-19, and the total abandonment of nursing homes and their residents during the pandemic.

As the light at the end of the tunnel begins to shine, so too does the sun as we welcome the warmer weather, and with it, the desire to live a fuller life. At this time, we must diligently and wisely examine what it is we want to take with us to our “new normal,” and what we want to leave behind.

We are now entering the fourth month of COVID-19 in Ontario, and RNAO’s leadership – including our expert staff, board of directors, assembly of leaders and over 44,000 RNs, NPs and nursing students – has been stellar. This level of deep engagement in the front-lines of practice, at the management and executive decision-making tables is worthy of a standing ovation.

The ubiquitous slogan, from TV to social media, is: “We are all in this together!” However, the reality of the pandemic is strikingly different. The COVID virus insidiously attacks the most vulnerable among us, and it takes an extraordinary amount of intentional focus, effort, resources and humanity to make sure we protect those most exposed to infection and who expect the worst outcomes.

Last week, I gave each and all of you a standing ovation and virtual BRAVO for being there, day in and day out, for patients and for one another, with knowledge, compassion and courage!

I want to begin my report expressing our collective shock and mourning over the lives lost in the Nova Scotia rampage shooting. The pain is numbing and our love for the families and friends must be constant and vibrant. Only this collective demonstration of love can help the NS family, and the families and friends of each robbed life, carry on with their own. Please RT and add your commentary of love and strength to RNAO’s tweet. 

Issues of fullness and accessibility of data are central to the understanding of any pandemic and the design of effective policy responses. We have asked Dr. Jennifer Kwan, a family physician in Burlington, Ontario, to expand on this key topic. What follows is her article. I encourage you to follow her on Twitter – @jkwan_md – her feed is an excellent source of useful data on COVID-19.