CCBI Resources for COVID-19 Matters – June 4, 2020
Dear Friends of CCBI, What strange and terrible times! Not only a pandemic in our…
Resources – Redressing the Balance: Seniors, Vulnerability, Radical Change
Dear Friends of CCBI,
Another interesting week has passed, as we learned about huge surges in the US and countries such as South Africa, with all that that implies for COVID19 patients in hospitals full to capacity, even in lauded cities like Houston, the jewel in the American health care system’s crown. Much needed restrictions and reversals of openings have been put in place in states and countries that ignored some safety measures or moved too quickly in an attempt to ‘get going,’ and we need to pray for prudent guidance to protect as many people as possible.
This also applies in Canada, despite our relatively low numbers of cases and deaths; ‘relatively’ does not, of course, do justice to the memories of the nearly 9000 deaths in this country, 80% of whom were our more vulnerable senior citizens. One way of addressing the injustice done to them is to work to redress the balance. Several articles from The Globe and Mail speak to this. One is by the chief executive of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, and she writes: “We did not learn from advance warnings from China and Europe. Now we must live with the consequences of the first wave of COVID-19 and immediately prepare for the next, because it will come. There is no time to wait for the results of an Ontario government commission<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-announces-independent-commission-for-pandemics-impact-on-long/> looking into how the LTC system responded to COVID-19. The commission will deliberate until the sting of our failures wears off and our memories become clouded.” She comments that organizations and unions repeatedly asked for changes in staffing, availability of PPE, isolation of infected patients and single rooms to prevent spread, but these were ignored until rising deaths finally commanded attention. Her point about time and memory is well-taken: in our media, commentary on some aspects of COVID19 has already tapered off. This issue will remain challenging, but it must remain.
A second article reminds us of increased and ongoing funding that will be necessary to equip long term care and nursing homes now, in case of a second wave of the pandemic, which is clearly predicted. We need to be ready! The Chair for the Canadian Association for long term cares notes: ” Ottawa could alleviate these pressures in the future by allowing nursing homes to access funds through the national housing strategy…Homes could also be placed at the top of the list of “shovel-ready” projects likely to get federal and provincial stimulus dollars as part of economic recovery efforts.” It is to be hoped that Ottawa pays attention, and not only the Association should be pursuing this, but all of us who see care for residents in the system as a priority.
In our third link, we learn that measures to expand care at home are being taken to offset the discharge of patients who do not need hospital care into long term care homes (and we have just witnessed what occurred in those homes). Slow but effective programs are possible, although the article states: ‘Patients who no longer need acute care are filling up hospital beds once again, primarily because hospitals can no longer discharge many of them to long-term care homes, where more than 1,800 residents in Ontario died from COVID-19.’ The point is to find alternatives to both hospitals and long term care homes, where those who need less intensive care can be treated. Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, among others, demonstrates what those alternatives could entail. We know that most people would prefer to stay in their homes as long as possible, and, if proper treatment could be given there, it would make both human and economic sense to do so.
A survey shows that there is ‘widespread vulnerability’ to COVID-19 in Canada. Testing for antibodies is important because it can show that some people have been exposed to the virus, whether they realized it or not. The Chair of Canada’s immunity task force reminds us that, based on antibody testing so far: “…the survey can establish that overall exposure to the virus has been low across Canada and it would be unrealistic to imagine the population is anywhere close to achieving “herd immunity,” a state in which the virus can no longer spread indefinitely…While everyone understands we need to get the economy and civil society going again, we need to get schools open…great caution is needed as we all wait for an effective and safe vaccine.” We must hope and pray that everyone ‘gets the memo’ on this sound advice.
Our last article is forward-looking, while reminding us in the developed world that the worst of the pandemic is yet to be experienced in other countries. With the title of “COVID-19 shows the need for radical change: How faith leaders can help build a better post-pandemic World,” it shows the need for a global response to the many questions this pandemic has raised. Looking at those through the lens of contributory causes to high mortality rates, it demands: “For example, why are millions of “essential” workers – nurses, garbage collectors, grocery clerks, postal workers – so poorly paid? Why have companies and markets failed so spectacularly at anticipating, let alone balancing, supply and demand for basic protective gear? And how can one even place a monetary figure on the freedom to walk without mortal fear of a passing stranger’s cough, or to attend a loved one’s funeral?” Among other points, it aims to ‘leverage’ responses from faith leaders to bring about radical change in attitude to socio-economic questions, post-pandemic. The authors include the Adjunct-Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development at the Vatican, and it is clear that the Dicastery means to work with many other sources, especially faith-based, to remind us of injustices in our own country and elsewhere, and of the need to work to counter such injustices for the common good.
Our Lady, Health of the Sick, pray for us!
That families may be accompanied by love, respect and guidance, we pray to the Lord! (Pope Francis’ intention for the month of July)
Moira McQueen, LLB, MDiv, PhD
Executive Director, Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute
Lecturer, Faculty of Theology
University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto
The Globe and Mail
Opinion: We must act now to prevent the loss of an entire generation in long-term care – The Globe and Mail<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-we-must-act-now-to-prevent-the-loss-of-an-entire-generation-in-long/?utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_source=Morning%20Update&utm_type=text&utm_content=MorningUpdate&utm_campaign=2020-7-20_6&cu_id=NqUpqm5KP4pa8wyZym%2BwyPS%2B3at2l57MKXU7olkScp4%3D>
Dr. Doris Grinspun is chief executive of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. Canada did not listen to the specific and dire warnings of China, Italy or Spain, in order to be well …
www.theglobeandmail.com<http://www.theglobeandmail.com>
Hospitals Plan for Alternative Care for Seniors Off-site
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-hospitals-plan-alternative-care-for-seniors-off-site/?utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_source=Coronavirus%20Update&utm_type=text&utm_content=CoronavirusUpdate&utm_campaign=2020-7-23_20&cu_id=NqUpqm5KP4pa8wyZym%2BwyPS%2B3at2l57MKXU7olkScp4%3D
Canada: widespread vulnerability to COVID-19
Antibody survey reveals ‘widespread vulnerability’ to COVID-19 across Canada, expert says – The Globe and Mail<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-antibody-survey-reveals-widespread-vulnerability-to-covid-19-across/?utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_source=Morning%20Update&utm_type=text&utm_content=MorningUpdate&utm_campaign=2020-7-24_6&cu_id=NqUpqm5KP4pa8wyZym%2BwyPS%2B3at2l57MKXU7olkScp4%3D>
Fewer than 1 per cent of Canadians have had the virus that causes COVID-19, according to initial findings from the largest serological survey conducted to date across the country. The results …
www.theglobeandmail.com<http://www.theglobeandmail.com>
World Economic Forum: Need for Radical Change
Faith leaders can help build a better post-pandemic world
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic-faith-radical-change-social-entrepreneurs-vulnerable-populations/