Introduction & Welcome to All
March 17, 2020As a Canadian senior citizen, who's trying their best to cope with the new norms imposed on us by our gov'ts because of COVID-19, I decided to start a blog detailing my efforts at first finding and understanding the information I've come across, via various means. Posting relevant excerpts of the various articles here as a means of enlightening those who visit and as a means for me to keep track of all the various loop-de-loops posted by various factions of the gov't and scientific/health communities.
I also wish to have a running dialog with and between those who may visit, who may post about their own experiences, or information they've acquired. Various tips and tricks on all sorts of things, from how and where to find certain items at reasonable prices, maybe how to save on the cost of various foods by posting recipes to stretch food, or for favourite restaurant meals we may not be able to indulge in, and therefore miss, if we can't make our own, for the unforeseen future. Or how to repair or make things (out of necessity - or boredom - whichever strikes your fancy), or any ideas on how to make life more amenable and enjoyable for us shut-ins. Who may wind up being shut-in for an extended period. It's a blog for all Canadian seniors who are being told to stay home and stay in, to connect with each other, provide, information, solace, support and ideas to better our shut-in lives. That is what I hope for this blog to do.
Anyone is welcome, and all are invited to share whatever ideas, information, support & solace to each other here. Just treat each other with the same respect you'd wish to be accorded, and watch your language. No spamming or phishing will be tolerated.
For now the place isn't very pretty with very much information or links on it, but as time goes by, I hope to improve on that, with your help too of course. If you have any links you think would be of interest to other senior Canadians,that might be of benefit to help them get through this trying time, like local organizations that will help them get groceries and medications & other necessities to them, or organizations that provide specialized help for shut-in seniors, or other that you think might be of interest to shut in seniors (even links to provide some levity, entertainment or how-tos, to lighten moods and pass the time) please post them in the comments section and I'll add them in under the following:
Links of Relevance:
Canadian Government's COVID-19 PageAlberta Government's COVID-19 Page
British Columbia Government's COVID-19 Page
Manitoba Government's COVID-19 Page
Nova Scotia Government's COVID-19 Page
Ontario Government's COVID-19 Page
Quebec Government's COVID-19 Site
Metis National Council`s Message On COVID19
Articles of Relevance
The links listed in this section will probably remain of relevance to us for as long as this outbreak persists, as they are basically articles about facts relating to health, safety, laws, that we ought to be aware of:
Psychology Works, Coping with & Preventing COVID - 19
How People 65 & Over Can do More to Protect Themselves
Corona Virus in Canada And How to Get Tested
Can You Take Ibuprofen if You Have COVID 19?
Millenials at Higher Risk - for those of us with family members in that age group
Canadian Gov'ts $82 Billion Aid Package - sadly there's nothing in it for seniors who are to be confined the longest at home by gov't orders.
Updated April 3, 2020
Coronavirus`Looming Psychological Crisis which is what I think we`re starting to see now.
A list of known scams related to COVID-19, from Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre this was published on March 19th, so I imagine there`s probably more scams than listed here. Just be very wary and cautious of deals and claims being made out there these days.
How Long Will Coronavirus Live on Surfaces or in the Air Around You? There are many different figures floating around out there but the bottom line is, you can never be too safe, so use an abundance of caution (because if the authorities have proven anything since this virus started making the rounds is that they have no freaking clue about what they`re talking about as they`ve been wrong on just about everything to do with it). So if wiping things down with disinfectant eases your mind then by all means do it, if you won`t be sticking whatever you wiped down directly into your mouth afterwards. Using it on fresh food isn`t a good idea though. On the outside packaging yes, but not directly on the food itself.
Scientists identify 69 drugs to test against the coronavirus So there is some hope, along with using antibodies from those who`ve already had it, to help fight it, in the meantime.
Coronavirus Traces Lingered in Vacated Cruise Cabins for 17 Days This is precisely what I meant when I said there are many different figures floating around and that no one seems to know for sure.
Experts weigh in on best handling of groceries during COVID-19 pandemic
These Common Household Products Can Destroy the Novel Coronavirus
These are probably your best bet for disinfecting areas in your home. Thorough and frequent cleaning to keep the virus to a minimum (if someone in your home has the virus) is probably your best defense.
Experts weigh in on COVID-19 questions about groceries, food delivery, takeout as we all need to eat, we should heed the advice given here. Remember the authorities thus far have been rather lax on their advice given. So whatever is recommended here is probably the bare minimum that you should do.
How to protect yourself and others from infection as COVID-19 cases increase. This is just a rehash of everything they`ve been saying about how to self-isolate and how to protect yourself - you know the useless ``wash your hands`` mantra that they`ve been chanting forever, which is utterly ridiculous considering it`s a respiratory disease and not a hand disease. The thing with respiratory diseases you usually catch them by breathing droplets in the air in, from the aerosol spray of them in the air when someone coughs or sneezes. Yes, they`ll eventually settle and land on some surface that you may touch, but you`re more apt to breath them in directly than touch them. So hand washing won`t protect nearly as much as wearing a mask will, which is what you should`ve been doing since the beginning of this outbreak.
Canada Post is changing its services: Six things you need to know. If you`re still ordering things online, and relying on Canada Post for delivery of those items, or doing like me and paying bills by sending cheques in the mail (because the banks have made it so damned inconvenient and hard to use), then perhaps you should be aware of these changes.
Considerations in the use of homemade masks to protect against COVID-19. While what they are saying here, may be true, if I had nothing to protect myself with, I would still rather take my chances with a homemade mask rather than nothing, while knowing that it may not be 100% secure. But nor are the N95 masks either. They`re only 95% effective. If you want one that`s 100% effective you can get P100 masks at places like Rona, or other hardware stores. One set of filters (that comes with the mask) is good for 40 hours, after that you should have replacement filters - also available at Rona and other similar type hardware stores. The mask and 1 set of filters will probably run you about $60 plus tax. But it`s good for as long as you can keep buying filter replacements. But if you`re wearing nothing you know without a doubt that you`ll be exposed to 100% of whatever is in the air. So even with a homemade mask that even only protects by 50% or even say 10% it`s still that much less exposure I would have to airborne viruses than if I had nothing at all.
Canada Free Press A legitimate source of information, that the mainstream media wishes you didn`t know about. They currently have many many eye-opening articles about COVID19 in there, worth your read.
Emergency benefits: What each province is offering during the COVID-19 pandemic
8 strains of the coronavirus are circling the globe. Here's what clues they're giving scientists. This was actually a very interesting article.
Coronavirus could travel 27 feet, stay in air for hours: MIT researcher This is precisely why masks are so important, no matter their protection values, even a little protection is better than none at all.
Diabetes, lung and heart disease common in U.S. coronavirus patients -CDC, so those people, no matter their age, needs to take extra precautions to protect themselves.
AI tool predicts which coronavirus patients get deadly 'wet lung', now this ``wet lung`` term jolted me upright when I saw it, because even as a nurse I never saw this term used before, but it is very appropriate to describe what I had back at the beginning of January. I thought I would drown in bed in my sleep if I didn`t get up and get an expectorant or something to relieve the congestion on my lungs, because it felt like fluid was accumulating in them. I`ve had a lot of illnesses with a lot of different symptoms in my life, but never anything like that before where I felt I`d drown on dry land in a dry bed. Since that seems to be a telltale marker for that virus, I can say with certainty now, that I already had this in the first week of January, and I never went anywhere near Wuhan China. In fact I live in a rural area of Quebec and haven`t left the province for more than 2 years and when I did it was to go to other parts of Canada, but still nowhere near China.
COVID-19 in Canada: This is a very, very long article, which is basically a running chronology of all the cases in Canada from the beginning up to the current moment, with all the pronouncements made by the government in that time frame as well. So essentially an itemized history of the progression of the disease and whatever attempts and measures the government has taken to try to stop it (or help it spread more - that`s what I think but then again, I can be rather cynical at times).
Coronavirus can spread one to three days before symptoms appear: CDC study Okay it`s normal that a person can spread a disease before symptoms appear, that`s during the incubation period, so this isn`t unusual. What is unusual is the short time that it does before symptoms appear. Normally if the incubation period (from the time of exposure to the disease until symptoms appear) is 7-10 days the person is contagious for that amount of time too and during the time they`re symptomatic - in most contagious viral infections. What seems to be weird for this virus is that the patient is still contagious after they recover, because in most other viral contagions they`re not.
Links to Local Organizations & Charities Who Are Willing to Provide Help to Seniors During this Crisis:
I am listing a couple links to organizations that I know about who are providing help in their local areas, to seniors, here. I do not know of any other such organizations for the moment, but as soon as I'm aware of them, or if visitors know of any, please feel free to leave a comment with their contact info and I will gladly post it in this section.Caremongering PEI - Facebook Page
How Can I Help COVID 19 Toronto FaceBook Page
For those suffering anxiety, stress, depression, or other difficulties dealing with this crisis, in the Montreal region you may contact Tel Aide at 514-935-1101 or on their website at: Tel Aide
For shut-ins who would rather deal with anxiety, stress, and physical inactivity issues via yoga, there's a bilingual (French & English) woman who has COVID19 Yoga classes online at YouTube at: Veronique Pierre COVID19 Yoga Classes
For seniors raising grandchildren who are currently out of school at the moment, the English School Board of Montreal has opened an online educational portal here: EMSB School Portal
The Quebec gov't has also opened one in both English & French and it's accessible here: Quebec Gov'ts Open School Portal
Coping with COVID-19: Managing Stress and Anxiety Some very very good information and advice for seniors trying to manage their COVID19 related stress and anxiety from HealthinAging.org
Vintage Fitness For Ages 50+ based in Toronto, that has an in home personal trainer service - which is on hiatus during the COVID19 pandemic, but they do have free online fitness courses, that you can avail yourself of at their site.
Bounce Back Ontario Offers a free skill building program online to help you learn coping techniques to deal with stress and anxiety and other mental health issues.
Links to Information of Other Types
Top 5 Immunity Boosters - Foods and herbs that provides a boost to our immune systems.
Natural House Cleaning Complete with 6 useful recipes, which may come in handy if we`re quarantined so long we run out of the commercial products we bought pre quarantine era. Or you might just like to use them because of them being non-toxic and better for the environment.
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