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Hi there, Internet friends. Your Friendly Neighbourhood Family Doc here with a message about COVID. Things right now aren’t looking so hot. /1
Every week, I watch more and more of my patients results come back positive for COVID. Each time I get one, I do a quick mental recap of that patient’s health status. Why? So I can decide which ones I think are most at risk for dying. /2
Every day, I hear from coworkers I care dearly for. Their messages are all the same: this is about to get really bad. Our system is running at or beyond it’s capacity and there is no end in sight. They worry about their patients, their families, their own health. /3
The beauty of family medicine is getting to know everything about your patients over time. I regularly check in on mental health, social supports, financial stability, housing security. I did before COVID, I do it even more now. /4
I KNOW my patients are struggling. I know that addictions and overdoses are a massive issue in this province. I KNOW many of my families are living within a few hundred dollars of crisis during GOOD times. /5
Why am I talking about this? Because I need YOUR HELP. I’m begging for help from every one of you who read this. Please, do everything you can RIGHT NOW to prevent the catastrophic consequences from COVID we have seen elsewhere. /6
WHAT can you do? Wear a mask. Limit your social contact. Not just inside your home. DON’T GO anywhere you don’t need to. I’d love a beer with my best friends, but I can do that in the future. /7
Support local businesses where you can in other ways. Curbside pickup. Contactless delivery. Online storefronts. So many of our local businesses have been amazing at adapting to these times. They need your support. /8
But again - LIMIT YOUR CONTACT WITH PEOPLE WHO DON’T LIVE IN YOUR HOUSE. It’s hard. It sucks. It’s lonely sometimes. When this is over I am going to hand out a thousand hugs...but we have to get to the other side first. /9
Please. Help my colleagues out. Nurses, pharmacists, therapists of all types, support workers, we ALL need your help. /10
