Red Cross Talks (Page 46)

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, healthcare systems are under strain to keep up with demand. This is one of the areas where the Canadian Red Cross is uniquely ready to respond and adapt to changing circumstances and needs.

For many Canadians in need, COVID-19 brings a whole new set of challenges in terms of food, lodging, hygiene, access to health care, and social interactions. Fewer pedestrians and reduced vehicle traffic mean less charitable giving in public spaces.

Canadian Red Cross volunteer Kara Shiestel’s role quickly changed from being a responder to a recipient of care from the Red Cross after arriving in Trenton, Ontario for a period in quarantine. Being on the receiving end of Red Cross support, after training as a volunteer, helped Kara deal with the situation for herself and others.

A couple of years ago, Gwen Schick retired. She discovered that she missed meeting people in the course of her travels for work. So, Gwen started volunteering as a Friendly Phone volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross in Saskatchewan.
The Friendly Phone program pairs volunteers with seniors who feel they could benefit from weekly phone calls. That’s it. 

Normally, when someone loses everything they own in an apartment fire, the Canadian Red Cross Personal Disaster Assistance Team (PDAT) arrives on the scene with blankets and teddy bears to offer warmth and comfort. That’s how it worked before COVID-19.

Lolita and her husband of 40 years set out for a 29-day cruise, and the word “quarantine” was certainly not on their minds. It came as a huge surprise when they found themselves caught in the epicentre of a Coronavirus outbreak onboard the Diamond Princess, but as they would later tell family, “quarantine has not been bad at all.”

As Canadians across the country are being asked to stay at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, you have probably heard some different terms on the news, such as isolation, self-isolation, self monitoring and social distancing/physical distancing. Using the right terms is important because the right practices protect vulnerable people and help our health care workers. Let’s go through each of these terms and what they mean.

 

Many Canadians have been home for a week or even longer by now, and we all know that can get a little boring. If you’re worried about staying entertained while isolated, then we have a list for you, whether looking to be entertained by performing arts, in need of kids’ activities to online education or even mental health support, there’s something here for you to enjoy.