THIS MIGHT NOT BE PLEASANT, BUT PLEASE READ IT ANYWAY

Today we expect the Province to announce further protective measures in response to the levels of COVID in Ottawa.

We know this may not be welcome news for everyone, but it is necessary.

Let's discuss, in 13 tweets. (1/13)
So, this is easily the most candid thing we've written since the pandemic began.

Simply put: our healthcare system is exhausted.

It’s been 13 grueling months, and the pace hasn’t slowed once. If anything, it’s increased.

The fact that any of the amazing humans involved (2/13)
in this pandemic response are still standing is nothing short of amazing. 

None of us can keep up w/cases like this. If it continues, it'll break us.

Nearly 1K people have tested positive for COVID in the past 7 days and we've seen about 4 high-risk contacts per case. (3/13)
So that's FOUR THOUSAND people to attempt to contact trace. Any way you look at it, it's just not possible. 

Yes, we will continue to follow up with people who test positive, but further contact tracing has simply become unmanageable. (4/13)
If you've tested positive, you MUST isolate & you MUST reach out to anyone you've been in close contact with and tell them to seek testing.

Hint for everyone reading this: limiting your contacts will make that task much easier on you if you do test positive. Just saying. (5/13)
Btw, we've given up on trying to write clever segues.

Further measures are clearly needed if we’re going to turn this around. But regardless of whether we're in Red, Grey etc, our actions need to be the same.

We won't bore you with listing them. We all know them by now. (6/13)
Our goal can't be to "get through to the end of the shutdown", it must be to bring COVID levels down. It's about metrics, not time. COVID doesn't own a calendar.

We must act based on keeping each other safe, not on what zone we're in. (7/13)
Remember back in January? Through our collective efforts, we worked hard & turned the numbers around and brought things back.

And that, friends, is how we'll get through this. 

Yes, the vaccines are here. But their supply has been limited & no amount of vaccines will (8/13)
change today's case counts. Or tomorrow's.

Until we've administered enough doses to begin having a real impact on the spread of COVID, it's up to us to bring this back. 

This thread should've ended here. It's already sooo long. But we need to address one more thing. (9/13)
In tweet 2/13, we said we've been at this for thirteen grueling months. Well, so have you. 

You've spent 13 months listening to health officials say we need to "do our part". 

The unspoken message was "do our part to get us to the point when the vaccines arrive”.  (10/13)
Well, we don't blame you if you feel like the rollout thus far could've been better. And for what it's worth, we're sorry for how frustrating it's been.

But we've said this before, & we'll say it again: none of us can change the past.

What we CAN do is focus on getting (11/13)
out of this pandemic as quickly as we can. 

And we'll do that by enacting protective measures, doing our respective parts and working together. 

This virus isn't stronger than us & we will NOT let it define this moment in our history.  (12/13)
This moment will forever be marked by this community of one million incredible humans coming together more than we ever have in Ottawa's history to achieve a shared goal of protecting each other.

 To quote our dear Bruce Reynolds, "we will do this". 

-OPH out  (13/13)

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More from @OttawaHealth

25 Mar
SOME OF OUR TWEETS HAVE BEEN LIES

Yes, it's true. Some tweets were lies. But they were small lies & they served a purpose.

We'll get to that...after we chat about today's numbers.

Please join us as we embark on this exhilarating 12-tweet journey of important information (1/12)
No one would blame you for being startled by today's numbers. It's a normal reaction. 151 is a big number.

There are only a handful of times when we've had daily numbers this high.

Plus, our % positivity and cases per 100,000 are now deeply into the Red zone. Not good. (2/12)
It's very easy to see this and be overwhelmed.

And it's also easy to see this and feel numb. In the world of crisis comms, we call this alert fatigue.

You can only hear us warn you about the need to be vigilant so many times before it just becomes an "Ok, sure" moment. (3/12)
Read 12 tweets
5 Mar
A VERIFIED GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT IS TWEETING ABOUT POOP. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE.

We've seen a few "but there's only X people in ICU" comments of late in response to our warnings about our numbers.

Allow us to explain why that’s an issue in these eight (yes, only 8!) tweets. (1/8)
Hospitalizations & ICU cases are what we call lagging indicators. As in, they can take a week or 2 to manifest.

Think of it this way: someone who is exposed to COVID today isn't going to be in the hospital tonight.

The virus needs time to incubate (which can take days). (2/8)
Then, they will start to feel sick.

If they do go for testing, they’ll wait 1-2 days for results.

Then they'll begin isolating, but their health will worsen.

Then they'll seek medical attention. And if needed, they will be admitted to the hospital. (3/8)
Read 8 tweets
12 Feb
THIS IS A CATCHY & ATTENTION-GRABBING TITLE

Today, the Province will likely announce what zone of the reopening framework we'll shift into as of Tuesday. Whatever is announced, though, doesn't change what we need to do. Why?

Kindly read these 14 tweets & we'll tell you. (1/14)
Fun fact: COVID-19 does not follow us on Twitter. COVID doesn't know, or particularly care, if we're in the Red or Orange zone.

The behaviours of the virus do not depend on the current ‘zone’ of public health restrictions. And, to be perfectly candid, neither should ours. (2/14)
Once upon a time we used to say #WeAreInThisTogether in our messaging. Here's the thing: we are, but we aren't. Not everyone is experiencing this pandemic the same.

Nurses, doctors, paramedics & healthcare workers have experienced things much differently than most of us. (3/14)
Read 14 tweets
8 Feb
Well, this seems like a great opportunity to chat about misinformation.

As the amazing people at @ScienceUpFirst will tell you, it's important to ask questions of the things you see online. So, with that in mind, let's analyze this now famous tweet together, shall we? (1/4)
(i) using that placeholder image makes no sense. None. It just seems like a redundant amount of work to have made it, no?

(ii) it's posted via Twitter & a quick scan of our tweets shows we always use the same platform when scheduling (i.e. it was not a pre-scheduled tweet) (2/4)
(iii) we didn't delete it. We were actively liking/replying to everyone after the post went live, so we were definitely watching. If it was a mistake, surely we would've deleted it before people saw it.

If Twitter had an edit button we could've fixed it, but we digress. (3/4)
Read 4 tweets
28 Jan
🎶SCHOOOLLLS OUT -- NOT SO FAST, ALICE COOPER!

So, schools are opening. Is this a good thing or a risky thing? Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: read these 15 tweets (sorry)

Schools aren't opening because "things are great". Literally nothing about this is cause to relax. (1/15)
It’s quite the opposite, actually. Simply put: schools are opening because the risks and impacts of keeping schools closed far outweigh those of opening them.

Remember: just as peace is more than the absence of war, good public health is more than the absence of disease. (2/15)
Make no mistake: there is no such thing as a risk-free activity. We once sprained a finger whilst typing a tweet (true story).

But like we've said before, public health is about harm reduction. It's a pillar of our work. Our role is to help you identify and balance risks. (3/15)
Read 15 tweets
11 Jan
HINDSIGHT IS 20/20, BUT 2020 SUCKED

Let's discuss...in 11 tweets

First & foremost: COVID levels in Ottawa are trending at the highest we've seen since this all started. We're now deeply in the Red level. We are once again in a crisis, & we don't use that word lightly. (1/11)
Our local healthcare system is again nearing its capacity. And remember: the people working in these healthcare settings have been at this for 10 long months. They need us as much as we need them.

We must bring this back. There isn't a choice when lives are on the line. (2/11)
The provincial shutdown remains in effect. Whether or not further restrictions are announced tomorrow doesn't change the fact all of us must act NOW. Or, like, 2 weeks ago. But we haven’t mastered time travel. Or edit buttons. Yet.

Do you have plans to gather w/friends (3/11)
Read 11 tweets

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