Today, Canada's Chief Medical Officer of Health Theresa Tam released modelling projections for how COVID-19 could
play out across the country. The modelling highlighted that there could be nearly 32,000 cases of COVID-19 and between 500 and 700 deaths in Canada by April 16 — and anywhere from 11,000 to 22,000 deaths over the course of the pandemic, even with relatively strong control measures in place. Here is some additional analysis on the findings.
In case you missed it, yesterday, we launched a new COVID-19 online video resource for nurses on the use of PPE during the pandemic. This webinar covers point of care risk assessment, precautions for nurses and guidelines on the appropriate ways to put on and take off PPE.
We're pleased to share that our daily newsletter is now available on our online COVID-19 Hub, along with a variety of other resources and guidance documents.
For the long weekend, our plan (unless something urgent comes up) is to take a short break from our updates tomorrow, saturday and sunday, to spend some quality, physically distant time with family. We will be back on Monday to share updates on anything you might have missed over the weekend. During that time, if you have any urgent practice questions, continue to email us and we'll get
back to you as soon as possible!
Urgent Jobs During COVID-19 We continue to receive information from organizations seeking to hire more nurses to support the COVID-19 response. There are now over 40 job postings on our COVID-19 Staff Needed section.
The Provincial Government is helping recruit health care workers through their new portal
and match them with opportunities.
We encourage RPNs looking for employment opportunities to sign up on all the platforms noted
above.
Key Provincial Updates and Resources for Health Professionals The Ministry of Health has issued updated testing guidance, to enhance the focus on testing of vulnerable populations, as well as health care workers and first responders.
The Chief Medical Officer of Health has updated Directive #3 for Long Term Care Homes to strengthen screening, testing and outbreak management in long-term care homes.
Additionally, the ministry’s guidance to LTCHs can be found on the ministry’s website and a foundational document on control of
respiratory infections in long-term care homes can be found here.
The Command Table met yesterday
and has provided a meeting summary of their discussions.
During his daily press conference, Premier Ford announced the creation of an Ontario Jobs Recovery Committeewhich will focus on getting businesses up and running and people back to work after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
Key Federal Updates During his daily press conference, Justin Trudeau said that after COVID-19 peaks in Canada, Canadians should expect "wavelets" of COVID-19 infection to keep popping back up until a reliable vaccination is developed-- meaning Canadians would likely not return to "normalcy" for some time.
Public Health Canada has also released a data tracking tool.
In addition to releasing the modelling projections this morning, the Federal Government released stark job numbers that showed over a million Canadians lost jobs in March and the unemployment rate rose to 7.8 per cent
For more information, we encourage you to visit theGovernment of Canada website.
Daily Reports
As of 10:30AM today, Ontario reported 5,759 confirmed cases, 2,305 resolved cases, 200 deaths and 1,208 currently under investigation with lab results pending.
The Ministry is now also reporting that 632 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, 264 are in ICU and 214 are vented. To view these
additional details: click here Click Hereto read the latest Ministry of Health Daily Report **Please note, these reports are intended for health professionals only and we request that you not share this with the public.
World Health Organization Situation Reports are also available here
In the News For an interactive map tracking all cases across Canada and internationally, click here
Below are some key stories from today that may be of interest to our members:
We will continue to monitor this situation and keep you updated as more information becomes available. Thank you for the important work that you're doing and the sacrifices you're making to keep Ontarians safe. We appreciate everything that you're doing each and every day.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact Tiff Blair at tblair@werpn.com
Sincerely,
WeRPN Team
WeRPN 5025 Orbitor Drive Building 5, Suite 200 Mississauga, Ontario L4W 4Y5
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