The physicians and staff of the Wild Rose Medical Centre realize this is going to be an odd Holiday season.  Never before in the course of our knowledge have we experienced a worldwide pandemic restricting our normal traditions of gathering with family and friends.  However, now more than ever is a time to reach out to others, lend a helping hand and do what we can to make spirits bright.  It is certainly not our normal, it is abnormal, so let’s make a new holiday tradition and do our part to get through this.

 

The Wild Rose Medical Centre will be closed from 12:00 p.m. on December 24th through to December 29th at 8:30 a.m. to celebrate the holiday.  Phones are answered after 7:45 a.m. on December 29th.

 

On January 1st we will welcome 2021, and what a year full of expectations we have!  Our clinic will be closed from 12:00 p.m. on December 31st, and we will reopen on January 4th, at 8:30 a.m. ready to go for a new year full of hope and promise.  Phones will be answered after 7:45 a.m.

 

From our homes to yours, have a safe and happy holiday season.

---

Medical Facts on COVID – 19 from the Physicians of Olds.

 

With COVID-19 cases rising across the province, and hospital Intensive Care Units filling with desperately ill Albertans, it is time for some facts regarding the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

– SARS-CoV-2 is a respiratory virus that is spread mainly through respiratory droplets and aerosols. These particles are coughed, sneezed, or exhaled by an infected person – often up to 2 days before they feel any symptoms of illness. These particles lodge in the mouth, nose, eyes, and airways of surrounding people, then move into the linings of these tissues, and start to multiply – causing the infection known as COVID-19.

– SARS-CoV-2 can be also be transmitted by touching a surface contaminated with particles from an infected person and then touching the nose, eyes, and mouth. This is an important but less common way to transmit the infection.

– Droplets are larger particles that are effectively blocked by paper masks and double layered cloth masks. Droplets only travel a short distance before falling to the ground. However, some droplets are smaller or evaporate into a smaller size and travel a farther distance. These smaller particles are not blocked by masks as effectively as larger droplets.

– COVID-19 is killing a lot of people. It is not just a “bad flu”. Data from the CDC shows that an excess of 300,000 people in the USA have died over and above the long-term average number of expected deaths from previous years.

– Currently, each person with COVID-19 is transmitting the infection, on average, to 2-3 other people. This means that the number of people with COVID-19 at least doubles every 3 weeks. Locally, Olds cases are doubling in less than one week. This increase will continue until the average transmission rate drops below 1.

– Vaccines will eventually help reduce the transmission rate of SARS-CoV-2. The vaccinated person will fight off the infection before it multiplies in their tissues and they will not spread the infection to surrounding people.

– Here is the most important fact – exposure to viral particles is dramatically reduced by wearing a mask and keeping a distance from others. If both people wear masks, the exposure to the virus is less than 1% of what would be found 1 foot away from an infected person without a mask. Please refer to the following chart from a recent study by the Mayo Clinic:

Clearly, wearing a mask and keeping distance reduces exposure to SARS-CoV-2. This reality is not based on politics, ideological beliefs, profiteering or human rights concerns – it is a fact.

Protect yourself and those around you by wearing a mask, keeping your distance, washing your hands, and getting a vaccination when available.

Let us all work together to safeguard the health of our families, friends, loved ones and community – especially those who are at high risk of severe complications of COVID-19 infection.

Sincerely,

Dr. Allan Hoeve Dr. Steven Turner Dr. Gert Nel
Dr. Du Duong Dr. Martha Ingles Dr. Jaco Hoffman
Dr. Foose Onsongo Dr. Leoni Kelly Dr. Kimberly Dykin
Dr. Joanna Slusar Dr. Maria Lee Dr. Murray Rodych
Dr. Michael Blackshaw Dr. Ebeth Hoffman Dr. LeeAnna Blackshaw
Dr. Vicki Wielenga Dr. Orest Kutskyy Dr. Kevin Lanni
Dr. Rebecca Sloan