Greetings friends and neighbours,

“My resolution for 2021 was to lose the 10 pounds I gained in 2020 – and I only have 14 pounds to go!!”

Dear Santa, I’ve been good all year.  Well, most of the time.  Once in a while.  Never mind!  I’ll buy my own stuff.

It seems to be time for an update.  There’s been some confusion around the province’s most recent announcements regarding COVID guidelines and rules.  I’ve checked with Don Vallery and he confirmed that we are still permitted 50% capacity in the Grand Hall and that the regulations concerning the other rooms and facilities in the Community Centre remain the same as before. 

However, having said this, I’ll like to underline what you may have been hearing.  Our COVID case numbers are climbing.  In much of the world, the number of cases is doubling every 2-3 days, with the Omicron variant becoming the dominant one.  Despite early “wishful conjecture”, this version of COVID is serious.  Not only is it more contagious, it’s also airborne and can cause serious illness, hospitalizations requiring intensive care treatment and even death.  We are being told that the worst case scenarios are predominantly with the unvaccinated – that we who have been double or triple vaccinated are more likely to have very mild symptoms if infected.  Even without symptoms, we can still infect someone else, so we may need to upgrade our masks and be absolutely diligent in wearing them.  In Wellington Dufferin Guelph (WDG) public health has indicated that 83.7% of new COVID cases in Ontario are now Omicron.  The positivity rate for Ontario is posted at 9.7% [we used to be concerned if it exceeded 2%] and for our WDG area it’s 6.2%.  With Delta, it was estimated that 1 person with COVID could infect 1.2 others.  With Omicron, the ratio is 1 to 4.5/5.  Centre Wellington has 34 active cases of COVID as of today, up from 15 on Friday.

I’ve shared these stats to encourage all of us to take extra care, for our own sakes and for the health and wellbeing of our families and community.

To reiterate – activities at our community centre may continue as before, abiding by the 50% capacity, masks and distancing rules.  However, there are a few changes to our scheduled events.  The ones I’m aware of are:

·         No Pine Crafts until further notice

·         Koffee Klatch is postponed until further notice

·         A number of groups are taking a break until after the New Year … if in doubt, call the coordinator of that activity

The NEW YEAR’S EVE DINNER is still on, with a refund of $10/person since dancing is neither allowed nor advisable.  The attendance will be smaller than in years past, so distancing will be a simple thing to do.  I can’t underline this enough – for the dinner, as for every event for the foreseeable future, masks must be worn.  The only exception is when we are seated with food and beverage.  If we get up from our chairs, for any reason, masks must be worn.   And for those activities where masks aren’t mandatory [although advisable], distancing must be maintained.

I’ve been telling folks that if they feel inclined to “shoot the messenger”, they must wait until they have nice things to say about me at my funeral.

Let us be grateful that Pine Meadows is virus free – that we are here to anticipate another new year.  May we go forth, filled with optimism and grace.

Take care.  Go gently,

Linda J. Bell  [PMHA president]