Each year in the winter months, hospitals and other health and social services feel the pressure of increased demand due to influenza and other seasonal ailments such as falls and seasonal affective disorder, a phenomenon called the Winter Seasonal Surge Season, fondly termed “Winter Surge”. This year, the seasonal strain on our health care system is expected to be compounded by a second wave of COVID-19 cases, so it is even more imperative to develop effective approaches to address Winter Surge.

Today our focus is on Cuba, a Caribbean island with about 11 million population and a very different economic and political regime. Canadians know Cuba well through their tourist visits – more than one million in 2019. Today, we are interested in a different facet of Cuban society – the community focus of its health system and their success, so far, in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. There are important insights for us in Ontario.

Today our focus is on Cuba, a Caribbean island with about 11 million population and a very different economic and political regime. Canadians know Cuba well through their tourist visits – more than one million in 2019 – enjoying the beaches, food, music and friendly welcoming from the Cuban people. Today, we are interested in a different facet of Cuban society – the community focus of its health system and their success, so far, in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. There are important insights for us in Ontario.

There is little doubt that school reopening in September is one of the most crucial policy decisions in terms of the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario and everywhere else. Ontario has about two million school age children and 160,000 teachers – those are huge numbers. That means wrong decisions will have fateful implications both for the health and wellbeing of children and their parents, teachers and staff, as well as for the pandemic curve.

Last week I posted RNAO’s thoughts on preparing for upcoming waves of COVID-19. RNAO has argued since January that we must prepare for the worst and hope for the best. We raised 15 lines of action, many of them interrelated, as part of that required preparation. Keep sending us your feedback, as it is very important and much appreciated! Here we discuss the flu vaccine, masks and schools, batch testing, and harmful disinformation.

RNAO has decided it will not re-open the VIANurse program if another wave of COVID hits the province. VIANurse addressed an emergency in a province that was slow in responding to the pandemic, and thus played a vital role. The next waves of COVID should not be an emergency as we can prepare now.

RNAO says the long-term care (LTC) staffing study released by the government today highlights deficiencies known for decades, and underlines an LTC sector that has been neglected by government after government, resulting in severe underfunding and understaffing.

Let me begin by repeating what I have begged government at all levels since January, and in particular from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health David Williams: We must prepare for the worst and hope for the best. During the first wave of COVID-19 in Ontario, we had it backwards – we hoped for the best, but engaged action late and at a slow pace, thus ending in the middle of the pack.