January 3, 2022| Website Updates| Pine Meadows Z Admin

from Linda J Bell, PMHA president

Greetings all,

First, so that you don’t “blame” either Avon Giddings [VP] or Ed Davis [Director of Communications], let me state that the pandemic updates are coming from the “president”. Avon or Ed are merely forwarding to you what I’ve asked them to send. Hence, my earlier request not to shoot the messenger!!

Before I get into the latest update on the pandemic and how it impacts us, perhaps I could share a bit of humour …

[a bit belated, but appropriate nonetheless] I really can’t decide what to wear to the living room for New Year’s Eve. I might just not go.
if you binge eat Christmas cookies while you binge watch Christmas movies, they cancel each other out. It’s science.

Now, the update.

As of 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday morning, we’re back to significant restrictions. The ramifications for us at Pine Meadows is that the entire COMMUNITY CENTRE and the WORKSHOP will again be closed, with some limited exceptions:

we will still be able to get our mail and access the internal mail boxes
the library will be open so we can get and return books. Gatherings of any size are not allowed however.
personal support workers and housekeeping personnel will continue to be permitted in our homes

If you’re wondering what activities are still available to us, the answer is unfortunately none!

This continues to be a fluid situation in our province and around the world, so adjustments to respond to changes will surely continue. The medical community pleads with us to be vigilant and to limit our contacts. They are exhausted and overwhelmed and must be wondering where the light is at the end of this very long tunnel. Omicron was thought to be much more highly contagious than any of the other variants to date and this is surely proving to be true. It was also thought to cause less significant health issues, but I’m not sure how true this is. The various ministers of health said as recently as yesterday that the number of NEW cases reported each day are so under reported [due to the change in testing] that we would be safe in assuming that the actual number is 5x that reported. Conservatively, that means somewhere in the neighbourhood of 90,000 new cases are circulating in our province every day.

Some of you have shared that a guest in your home over the holidays has since tested positive and that you have isolated for 5+ days, to ensure that you don’t become a carrier. THANK YOU for taking care of your neighbours. To date, as far as I know, NO ONE at Pine Meadows has contracted the virus. If any of us do, please know that a phone call to a neighbour or to your Emergency Contact Captain will get you the support and help that you may need. This virus has no respect for anyone, including those of us who are being very cautious and who follow all the guidelines/rules. So — NO judgment. Only the fervent hope [and prayer] that our community continues to be healthy.

In closing, a NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION we can all embrace – “Laugh a little louder; smile a little wider; love a little deeper; and walk through life a little more slowly.” And, if I may borrow a NEW YEAR’S WISH for all of you for 2022 – “May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal all your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills. May love stick to your face like molasses and may laughter spill from your lips! May your tears be that of joy and may any problems you had, forget your home address!”

Take care. Go gently,