January 28, 2020 COVID-19 report
Dear RNAO member,
Your professional association continues to actively participate in activities related to the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
Today, Ontario health officials shared that 47 cases in total have been under investigation. Thirty-four of those have been ruled out, 11 are pending and two have tested positive.
The two people that tested positive are a husband and wife that were on a Southern China Airlines flight 311 from China and returned to Canada Jan. 25. The 52-year-old gentleman is being treated at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and is in stable condition. His partner is in self isolation at home. We want to thank the nursing staff at Sunnybrook led by Chief Nurse Executive Ru Taggar for their tremendous leadership and for keeping their spirits positive. We hear you are working tremendously as a team. Please know we are here for you!.
RNAO is fully engaged with Ontario’s Ministry of Health (MOH) about 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. The system is working as it should and the collaboration among health officials and RNAO is outstanding. We are getting answers to all of our questions in a very timely manner.
Nurses are unwavering in our commitment and expertise to serve the public. We also know that we must protect you so you can care for the public.
As promised, we are sharing daily “Situation Reports”. Here is report #3 dated Jan. 27 and report #4 dated Jan. 28 received today from the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at MOH. If you missed previous updates, here is report #1 issued Jan. 25 and report #2 issued Jan. 26. A reminder that these are intended for health professionals only, and are designed to give you the information you need to keep you up to date. These are not meant for the general public, so please do not share.
And, we are sharing a letter from the chief medical officer of health to school boards issued on Jan. 27.
We are also sharing “Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Guidance for Primary Care Providers in a Community Setting” that were just released today; which includes “Occupational Health and Safety and Infection Prevention and Control Advice for Primary Care Settings”; as well as an important notice for patients in primary care settings.
With warm regards,
Doris Grinspun, RN,MSN, PhD, LLD(hon), Dr(hc), FAAN, O.ONT
Chief Executive Officer / RNAO