RNAO Updates

The second cohort of Canadians and their family members, who arrived at CFB Trenton on Feb. 11, are being released tomorrow after 14 days of quarantine. The excitement of going home is within arm’s reach and we can feel it and celebrate with you!

From RNAO’s perspective, although we hope not to face the situation, this means we need to accelerate the preparation for a possible COVID-19 pandemic. The heroic efforts to stop or limit the spread of the virus in China, South Korea and elsewhere have bought time and have slowed down the spread, providing more opportunity for preparations at every level, including assisting countries with weak health systems

As new countries report the arrival of COVID-19 at their doorsteps (Lebanon and Israel today), and more cases are reported in countries outside of China, the threat of a pandemic is very real. Thus, your continuing safeguard of our supplies is as important as ever.

Welcome to the Canadians from the Diamond Princess cruise ship who arrived today from Japan and are in Cornwall beginning their 14 day quarantine period. We wish them well and are here to support you with encouragement and good wishes.

We had a FANTASTIC day at RNAO’s 20th annual Queen’s Park Day. Shining a light on the key health issues affecting nursing practice and the health of Ontarians, 130 RNAO leaders engage in vibrant conversations with about 40 MPPs from all parties, including Premier Doug Ford, Minister Christine Elliott, NDP health critic France Gelinas, interim leader of the Liberal Part John Fraser, and leader of the Green Party Mike Schreiner.

As informed earlier, the Federal Government announced on Saturday that it has chartered a plane to repatriate Canadians on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan, given the extraordinary circumstances faced by passengers and to lighten the burden on the Japanese healthcare system.

We received one question today and we appreciated it as it allows us to continue providing facts. The question related to “four people from Trenton who have shown positive and have been transferred off base to 3 different hospitals. Are facts not being shared truthfully?????.”

As we shared yesterday, initial efforts to understand the behavior of the COVID-19 virus by researchers in Singapore suggest it is different from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and has more similarities with H1N1. Like influenza, COVID-19 is infectious when symptoms are mild, the researchers found.

We continue to hear that supplies disappear and that is a risk to all, should we need them. Please continue to remind colleagues that personal protective equipment (PPE) are to be used only when there is a need, as per the EOC guidelines.

How can we lower the chance of future outbreaks of coronavirus? One of the links scientists are studying is climate change, reinforcing the demand to tackle climate change as a public health imperative.