On March 11th, the World Health Organization declared that the spread of a new strain of CoronaVirus (COVID-19) had become a global pandemic. As countries around the world began their social isolation strategies to reduce the spread of the virus, COVID-19 made its way to Canada and suddenly we are all living a new reality. Every one of us has been impacted by the stringent social distancing strategies that have been imposed. The freedoms that we once took for granted are being temporarily restricted. The COVID-19 pandemic is now the top headline of every newscast. Our social lives have changed. Our financial lives have changed. Our business lives have changed. We are adjusting to having the family at home 24 hours a day, finding ways to home-school children, caring for aging parents who are particularly vulnerable, stretching our budgets and having to practice patience while we wait for direction on next steps for us all, and all the while we must be vigilant about social distancing, washing our hands and sanitizing surfaces to keep ourselves safe.
As a Community Association, we are receiving official COVID-19 updates from our municipal government offices (geared at community associations) that are informative and designed to be shared with our respective community members. We have been posting these on our website and social media channels for the community to view. If you do have specific COVID questions, they should be directed to the appropriate government health agencies:
- Municipal: Ottawa Public Health
- Provincial: Ontario Ministry of Health
- Federal: Health Canada
We are incredibly grateful to those employed in the medical field that serve in a front line role in treating the unprecedented number of respiratory illness cases in our hospitals. We have realized that heroes also exist within the ranks of our underappreciated essential services providers; the providers of public transportation, the grocery store and pharmacy staff who stock and deliver essential food and medical supplies, as well as all who work in the interest of our children and seniors and vulnerable members of our society, a debt of gratitude is due. As citizens of this community and country, the contribution that many of us have been asked to make is a relatively small one – to simply stay home and keep our space clean and safe.
We hope that this message finds you and your families well, and we wish you all the best during these challenging times.