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May 27, 2020

‘This fight is not over’: Headwaters hospital chief of staff urges community to not let its coronavirus guard down

Orangeville Banner Opinion Section | May 27, 2020


Dear community,

I did watch the national news recently and saw the lack of physical distancing in Toronto but did not see the pictures from Mono Cliffs Park here locally.

Let me tell you what I believe to be true of the novel coronavirus at this time, after listening to many experts in various fields, and my observations and experience. This fight is not over … yet.

A person may get this virus when their mucous membranes come in contact with droplets containing the virus. Also, unfortunately, we now understand that a person can be infectious during the one or two days before symptoms. I also know of patients with COVID-19 who develop minimal symptoms. What this means, is being packed in a park, or any similar gathering, are people who feel well, but unknown to them, are producing droplets containing the COVID-19 virus. This is why physical distancing is recommended.

We also know there is a large variance in the clinical presentation of COVID-19. Some have very minimal symptoms, as described. Some are obviously sick with a flu-like illness and stay at home or contact their primary-care provider. Some are young with no underlying medical issues, while others are elderly with multiple other medical problems. As you have probably heard, not all elderly people languish with COVID-19, but neither do all young healthy people have a mild illness.

Unfortunately, some infected patients go on to get sick enough to go to the emergency department and require hospital admission. Those are the cases that front-line health-care workers at Headwaters Health Care Centre see. Even more unfortunate, are those few who deteriorate in hospital requiring intensive care services, including intubation and ventilation. There are tools researchers are testing to see if we can predict, using clinical indicators, who may deteriorate.

And so, while I appreciate everyone’s desire to get outside in the sunshine and to participate in what we all consider to be normal activities as the province slowly opens up, I encourage people to continue to follow the guidelines from public health. Please physically distance, wear a mask when unable to maintain this distance, and wash your hands frequently. If we all do our part, we will see fewer positive cases of COVID-19, fewer people needing medical care, a hospital stay or worse, intensive care support.

Again, this fight is not over yet. Do not let down your guard — not only for your own health, but your family as well as health-care workers transporting patients, working in the emergency room and on our hospital wards as well as intensive care and other staff in the hospital.

On behalf of Headwaters, thank you.

Dr. Peter Cino, chief of staff,
Headwaters Health Care Centre