It’s been one year of this COVID report…!

On January 27, 2020, I sent my first report, saying “RNAO is working hard to monitor the latest on the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and will keep you informed as new updates come in. Today, Ontario health officials confirmed its second “presumptive” case of 2019-nCoV in Toronto, Canada… RNAO is fully engaged with… developments related to 2019-nCoV and is participating in daily ministry calls to support all efforts to deal with the virus as well as ensure nurses and nursing students are kept up to date… As always, nurses are unwavering in their commitment and expertise to serve the public. We also know that we must protect health-care professionals so you can care for the public.”

Fast-forward a year, and…. we still have months to go, and perhaps even longer. The key factors that will greatly influence the days, weeks, months and perhaps years ahead depend mainly on two priorities. The first is how strongly the Ontario government implements policies aimed at controlling the virus. The second is how fast and effectively vaccination rollouts happen in Ontario, Canada and globally. As RNAO has repeatedly urged, we must keep our eyes on what happens beyond Canada’s borders, as it is the only way to keep down the spread and mutations from happening. The media and the public seem to be blind to what happens in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, India and others where the virus is spreading rampant, and where mutations take foot. This affects us all, and it takes only one day for a virus to travel with an asymptomatic passenger. While most mutations may be concerning but may not stop us from progressing to a better future, it is only a question of time until mutations start to weaken the effectiveness of our vaccines. That’s why we must care about the global rollout of vaccinations, as stopping the spread of the virus everywhere will protect all anywhere. To gain deeper understanding of this challenging topic, I recommend you follow Dr. Ashish K. Jha whose tweeter thread explains the go forward simply and sharply here.