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Sunshine Coast COVID Physician Task Force Community Update 31 (July 7)

Dear Fellow Sunshine Coast Residents: Summer is officially here, with sunny weather, full ferries, and a few statutory holidays thrown in for good measure.
update 31

Dear Fellow Sunshine Coast Residents:

Summer is officially here, with sunny weather, full ferries, and a few statutory holidays thrown in for good measure. As much as it feels like the perfect time to relax and have fun, please continue taking every measure to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak on the Coast. We don’t have to look very far south to see what can happen if we are not careful, and we need to keep working together to keep our community safe.

While there have been some welcome changes with Phase 3 of our provincial Restart Plan, it is important to remember that all of the other personal and business recommendations from Phase 2 remain in place. Phase 3 is not a return to normal and we should all continue to act as though COVID-19 is still here.

This means that businesses should be following Public Health and Worksafe BC guidelines to ensure the safety of employees and customers. This includes limiting the number of people on premises at any one time, ensuring adequate spacing, and the use of masks and barriers when physical spacing is not possible. Please respect our businesses who are doing their very best to ensure the safety of everyone who enters.

In our local health-care facilities, visitors are allowed, but are restricted to essential visits only. For the hospital, each patient may have one visitor at a time for a maximum of two hours per visitor. For our long-term care facilities, residents may have one designated person who is able to visit. Virtual visits are allowed at all facilities, and tablets are available for residents and patients who do not have access otherwise.

For individuals, our recommendations remain the same: 

• Maintain physical distancing with people outside of your household (or your very limited family/friend bubble), and wear a mask whenever you can’t maintain a distance of at least two metres. 

• Wash your hands frequently, especially after touching high contact surfaces.

Do not touch your face unless you have just washed your hands, and make sure you wash your hands after touching your face.

• Avoid large groups if you can, especially indoors. If you do meet up with others, please meet up outside whenever possible and maintain physical distancing. 

• Exercise extra caution if you are older and have high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease or other significant health issues. 

If you do develop new cold or flu symptoms (no matter how mild), please stay home and self-isolate until you have been assessed. Do not go to work. Do not go shopping. Do not meet up with others. Do call your family doctor or the Respiratory Assessment Clinic (Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) to arrange for further assessment and testing, if indicated. The Respiratory Assessment Clinic can be reached by phone or text at 604-740-1252 or by email at coastrespclinic@gmail.com

We continue to test everyone with possible COVID-19 symptoms, so please do not hesitate to call if you become ill. If you have more severe symptoms and believe you may need to be admitted to hospital, please go to the Sechelt Hospital Emergency Department. If you need an ambulance, please call 911. The Emergency Department is open and safe for anyone with a medical emergency. 

With respect to non-emergent non-COVID-19 health issues, our local medical clinics remain open Monday to Friday, with virtual and in-person walk-in services available through the Gibsons Medical Clinic from Monday to Saturday. Please note that all of our family medicine clinics are currently booking people without a local family doctor.

In order to provide as safe an environment as possible for both patients and staff, the majority of medical care will continue to be provided virtually. This is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. If you have a medical issue that requires a physical assessment, an in-person appointment will be arranged. 

Please check the Coast Reporter and The Local Weekly for periodic updates on COVID-19 in our community. As local parks, programs and facilities open up, please visit the SCRD, the Town of Gibsons, and the District of Sechelt websites for updates.

Keep well, wash your hands, keep your distance or wear a mask, stay local if you can, and please keep doing everything you can to keep our community safe! 

Sincerely, 

The Sunshine Coast COVID Physician Task Force 

Dr. Jennifer Baxter

Dr. Ted Krickan

Dr. Herman Mentz

Dr. Brian Nelson

Dr. Daren Spithoff