Dear Friends,
In light of the ever evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the Session of First Presbyterian Church have decided to cancel all upcoming weekly gatherings, events and services until further notice. Please stay home! This is as much for yourselves as an act of care towards those around us as well.
We will continue to pray for those who are more directly impacted by this virus; the ill, the medical personnel at the frontlines of this crisis, and the families who may potentially be separated during their travels. May we trust in the Lord who is our refuge and strength, a source of help and assurance in times of trouble (Psalm 46)
We will be uploading our services online at our new YouTube channel here.
Please also find below a letter written by a friend who is a medical practitioner regarding their current perspective on this vitally important window of opportunity.
In Christ,
-Rev. William
Shalom.
We are all currently facing challenging times in the light of the new COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. I pray that with God’s wisdom we can get through these trying times together.
I write this letter as a currently practicing family physician here in Ontario to highlight the urgency of the issues we are facing NOW. In a nutshell, the media / government / the public in large still have not grasped the urgency of the outbreak. Looking at the pattern of the virus we now know that eventually FIVE PERCENT of all infected people will end up in hospital requiring MECHANICAL VENTILATION for up to a month in order to fight the virus. The issue is that in all of Canada we ONLY HAVE 3170 hospital beds available with means to deliver the intensive care. Canada currently has a population of 37 million. We have learnt that unless the early spread of the virus is contained, countries can end up with 30-70% of its population infected. In the best scenario.. 37 million times 30%.... far outnumbers the 3170 intensive care beds.
The ONLY THING we can do currently is to practice STRICT SOCIAL DISTANCING. This means staying home unless your life depends on it. This would include work / shopping / meetings, etc. Over the weekend, we family doctors all over Canada have begun to set up phone / internet telehealth services for the majority of our patients so we do not have to see them in person in order to deliver health service. We are all scrambling at this point.
However, as aforementioned, the media / provincial / federal policy have still failed to highlight the urgency of the issue. For instance, many provinces sent out a message that meetings with over 250 people should be discouraged. It should have said that any meetings should be discouraged at this point. Many people still assume that Canada is not at a critical stage because so far there has not been any confirmed “community spread” of the virus. But many fail to realize that we were not even testing for “community cases” in the first place, and do not have enough test kits to do so in the near future. People were only tested if they had symptoms + travelled to high risk areas or have been in contact with confirmed COVID patients. It is now even more strict because they are only testing people who meet the criteria above PLUS only those who are health care workers / reside in long term care / already hospitalized / etc. The current number of infected people only represents the tip of the iceberg.
DOCTORS ACROSS CANADA ARE PANICKING CURRENTLY. Ontario premier Doug Ford today had a press release where he said that Ontario is ready with enough supply to fight the virus. BUT I know that doctors in COVID testing centers in Ontario have been wearing the same disposable (one time use) protective yellow suit for 3 days in a row and cleaning it themselves with lysol spray. I know that no family doctor clinics have enough protective gears to last them more than a few days at most. All we can do at this point is to practice STRICT SOCIAL DISTANCING. Otherwise, this will spread quickly, and we will end up at a stage where we have to decide who gets the intensive care and who will be left on their own with little fighting chance. I pray that all of us will part take in the process.
God bless.
Dr. Lee, Y.S.