This is RNAO’s daily communication for Friday, March 13 – our second month of the COVID-19 outbreak in Canada – now a pandemic.

WHO Director-General acknowledged that even though COVID-19 has captured the world’s attention, there are still many other health issues people continue to face every single day. Babies are still being born. Essential surgery is continuing. People still need emergency care after road traffic crashes. People still need treatment for cancer, diabetes, HIV, malaria and many other diseases.

WHO Director-General calls on all countries to take a comprehensive approach: not testing alone, not contact tracing alone, not quarantine alone, not social distancing alone – one must do it all. He says any country that looks at the experience of other countries with large epidemics and thinks “that won’t happen to us” is making a deadly mistake.

As I said yesterday – and it’s worth repeating today: Without you we are nothing! You keep us updated and well informed of what’s happening in the COVID-19 battlefield. You are there – nurses, doctors, pharmacists, midwives, paramedics, clerks, and so many other health professionals in Ontario – serving the public selflessly and without reservation.

Premier Doug Ford has declared a state of emergency in Ontario, immediately ordering select closures of gatherings above 50 people. The measure announced closes indoor recreation centres, public libraries, private schools, parades, places of worship, licensed day-care centres, cinemas, theatres, concerts and the like until the end of March.

Premier Doug Ford has declared a state of emergency in Ontario, immediately ordering select closures of gatherings above 50 people. The measure announced closes indoor recreation centres, public libraries, private schools, parades, places of worship, licensed day-care centres, cinemas, theatres, concerts and the like until the end of March.

Yesterday, Health Minister Christine Elliott announced in no uncertain terms that any health professional who travels abroad MUST upon return to self-isolate for 14 days. RNAO is thanking the minister for a decisive action that puts an end to variation in practices by health organizations and serves to protect health professionals and patients alike.

Can health providers returning from travel go back to work immediately? Most of the emails I received today address the discrepancy between what Health Minister Christine Elliott announced earlier this month and what some of our teaching hospitals are doing.

Can health providers returning from travel go back to work immediately? I received today over 50 emails from staff nurses concerned over contradictory directives and fearing for their health, that of their colleagues, patients and families.

PPEs: A key area of concern is the availability of PPEs for the protection of nurses, physicians, other health workers and patients. Given the extensive community spread of COVID-19, and the evidence that persons, including health workers, became contagious before symptoms appear, one cannot assume that asymptomatic health workers are not spreading the virus.