Killarney Guide

Killarney preparing in advance for COVID-19

BY KIM LANGEN

A hundred years after the global scourge of the Spanish Flu, the world is today facing something similar.

In 1918, soldiers returning from the end of the First World War unwittingly brought back this devastating influenza virus to communities in Canada.

And the way communities eventually reacted back then to halt its pandemic progress is very much the same way we are behaving this week. 

Closing schools, cancelling public functions, keeping six feet/two metres apart – and simply keeping our hands clean, with soap and water.

Our great fortune here at home in Killarney and area is that we have been able to prepare in advance – like a massive dress rehearsal. 

At first it was hard to keep apart; to stop meeting and touching; to cancel events; to change our cultural behaviour.

But following the whirlwind global events that have been unfolding over this past week, most people are now calming down, and carrying on, and learning a new way to live through this.

“Last Friday we had line-ups all the way from the tills to the meat department,” said Darren Charles, a meat clerk at Boundary Co-op’s food store in Killarney. “It started at 8:30 a.m., and it was like that until closing time. It was very intense, but there wasn’t any trouble. What did they buy? Anything. We kept up pretty good.”

Charles said that the Co-op had been about two-thirds busier than normal over the days that followed.

“It goes in cycles,” he said. “One day it’s toilet paper, then it’s sanitizer, then baking goods and supplies, and then powdered milk.”

The speediest items being lifted off the store shelves have so far been canned food, milk, and bread, said store manager Trent Lyons, earlier this week.

“We are not out of toilet paper,” he said. “But there is a limit on what we can order from the warehouse. We are out of hand sanitizer and some cleaning products. We keep ordering it, and they don’t show up. We are busier, for sure. Everybody has to have patience with our staff. And remember, if you have been on holiday, you need to self-quarantine.”

Lyons added that Co-op has recently seen an increase in deliveries. 

For just a five-dollar delivery charge, they will bring the groceries home to a Co-op member’s doorstep, he said. 

But it needs to be a zero-contact event, he added.

“People can pay over the phone, by credit card, when they call in the order, or with a cheque at their door, which they need to put in an envelope,” said Lyons. “We leave it on their doorstep, so there is no contact. This is a service just for our Co-op members, and it’s only in town.”

Connie Blixhavn, who recently returned from Arizona with her husband Bruce, posted on Facebook recently how she was managing with the self-imposed two-week self-isolation requirement made by Health Canada.

“I am so loving this town,” she wrote. “The Co-op is delivering my groceries, Home Hardware is delivering soil so I can get my greenhouse roaring, and my neighbour is picking up my prescriptions for me. Now is the time to come together, and support our local businesses as much as we can.”

Local pharmacist Chris Johnson says that people don’t need to be worried about their prescriptions being filled. 

“We have been very busy with questions, and in filling prescriptions,” he said on Wednesday. “It started last Friday, and then again on Monday and Tuesday. People have been very good. They are not frantic, and they are not ill. The question that comes in the most is if we are staying open. Yes, we are open. If staff do become ill, they will go home, but we will still operate with some level of service. We are keeping our staff healthy by increased hygiene, and vigilant cleaning at the pharmacy. If someone in the community is ill, we ask that they don’t come in if they can avoid it. Maybe someone else can come in for them. The whole point right now is a reduction of contact, to keep both our staff and the public safe.”

The pharmacy is also offering free delivery of prescriptions in the town, via taxi, he added.

Plus, the pharmacy is also delivering prescriptions directly to customers right outside in the mall parking lot.

“If they don’t want to come into the mall, they can pull up to the parking lot, and we will take their prescription out to them,” said Johnson. “We can meet them there. Ideally they will call us from a cell phone outside when they arrive.”

Prepayment by credit card when making their prescription request will also help, he added.

“Before any of these prescription deliveries, we would like them to call with their credit card info in advance, again to minimize contact between people,” said Johnson. “And if people bring in their used pill vials, for renewal information, we will have a bucket for them to drop them into.”

Johnson added that for those who are self-isolating, a two-week supply of drugs should be on hand at home for the duration of the time period.

“We are recommending a 14-day supply for those in self-isolation, but not hoarding,” he said. “We definitely want to discourage hoarding. Stay a few days ahead, but don’t stockpile drugs. Be prepared, but don’t stockpile.”

In the meantime, Johnson recommends lathering up with lots of soap and water at home.

“Very thorough hand cleaning, twenty seconds with soap,” he said.

Petchie Hawkins, treasurer and board member of the Killarney Food Bank, said they have now incorporated a no-contact plan to their service.

“Our method of distribution has changed,” she said on Wednesday, while picking up a cartload of supplies at Co-op. “We won’t be having people come into the building. People will now drive up, we will give them a shopping list and they will fill it out, and then we will fill the order and put it on the step outside the food bank. They pick it up, and there is no close contact that way. They can also phone ahead, and we can have it waiting on the porch for them. We have to limit social contact; we don’t want our volunteers getting sick.”

During the Monday lunch hour, Bayside Personal Care Home locked the inside entrance door, and taped a letter onto the glass, explaining the reasons for the lockdown.

“As many of you are aware, we are currently in a global Pandemic,” said Kara Flamond, Clinical Resource Nurse for Bayside, in the letter. “Elderly people, people with chronic conditions, and residents with compromised immune systems are at an elevated risk of developing serious complications to this coronavirus. As part of outbreak prevention in our Personal Care Home to the current coronavirus pandemic, we are looking at ways to reduce foot traffic, minimize exposure to potentially infected people, and we will be changing some of our regular practices and programs. We will resume regular activity as soon as the pandemic is over.”

No visitors are currently being admitted into the care home, unless a resident is considered palliative, she added.  A list of other cautionary steps being taken within the facility were also listed – all with the goal of helping to reduce the risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

So what are the steps to take if you feel that you may have contracted the virus?

For most people, it will be a case of being ill for some time, and then recovering. For some, it may develop into an acute respiratory situation involving their lungs.

But the big goal is to not spread the highly contagious virus if you do contract it. 

Slowing down the currently rising rate of infected people, or ‘flattening the curve,’ means that our health care system, and our health care workers, will be better able to cope in caring for those who do become sick.

“Current evidence suggests that a person poses the greatest risk of spreading COVID-19 to other people when that person has symptoms of fever, cough, or breathing difficulties,” says Manitoba Health in their Novel Coronavirus/COVID-19 press release sent out this past week. “People who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 are advised to self-isolate, and avoid close contact with others to reduce the chance of spreading COVID-19 to other people.”

If you feel you may be infected and show symptoms, Step One is to call Manitoba’s ‘Health Links–Info Sante’ number at 204-788-8200, or toll-free at 1-888-315-9257, to be assessed.

This line is very busy, we are told, but the public is encouraged to exercise patience – and to wait (some reports say two hours) until they get through to speak to a health professional.

Health Links will then determine over the phone if the person calling will need to be tested for COVID-19, and if so, will direct them to a location for screening. 

The results of this nasal-swab screening test will take around 48 to 72 hours to come back, and while the person waits for these results, they MUST isolate at home, away from family members, said health officials. 

“To self-isolate means staying home, and keeping away from other people,” they said. “This means not attending all activities/gatherings outside of the home, including work, school, university, health care and long-term care facilities, faith-based activities, grocery stores, restaurants, and shopping malls.”

If a patient does develop acute respiratory symptoms as a result of the virus, and requires a ventilator, they will reportedly be treated at centres based in Brandon or Dauphin.

For more information on news regarding COVID-19, go to Shared Health Manitoba at: https://sharedhealthmb.ca

LOCKDOWN AT BAYSIDE – Bayside Personal Care Home went into lockdown on Monday, in order to help prevent the vulnerable seniors who live there from contracting COVID-19 from visitors. An exception will be made for those in palliative care circumstances.

SHOPPING AND STOCKING UP AT CO-OP’S FOOD STORE – Petchie Hawkins (left), treasurer of the Killarney and Area Food Bank, gets a hand from Co-op meat clerk Darren Charles (right) as she loads up her shopping cart on Wednesday afternoon. The meat counter – and the grocery shelves – were still nicely filled, despite the rush on sales for various items over the past seven days, due to COVID-19 cautions.

KIM LANGEN/KILLARNEY GUIDE PHOTOS

HOMEWORK PACKAGES FOR STUDENTS – Killarney School closes to students after today (Friday, March 20) for three weeks, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers were already busy this week putting together homework packages for the kids who weren’t in attendance, and sending the packages home with the ones that were. Next week teachers will also be using Google Classroom and other technology to try to educate their students over the Internet.

What do you do when the local rink closes up for the foreseeable future?

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THE RINK CLOSES UP? – You find your own patch of ice! That’s exactly what some Killarney kids did after the Shamrock Centre’s skating rink closed last Friday. Damian Banman grabbed his skates after he found a patch of ice on the green space beside the Co-op C-Store. His buddy, Brody Skeoch, posed for a quick photo with him before running home to grab his own skates.

JAY STRUTH/KILLARNEY GUIDE PHOTOS

EVEN BIGGER PATCH! – The Magwood brothers (from left), Dane, Finn, and Liam, found a bigger patch of ice, as they hit Killarney Lake for a skate on the weekend.

BRIAN GANSKE/PHOTO