EMAIL FORWARDED TO ALL MEMBERS MARCH 13, 2020
Dear Members of CFUW Haliburton Highlands
Your board of directors has been monitoring the developments of the COVID-19 virus and its transmission. We are dedicated to reacting but not over reacting to these events, and wanted to provide you with an update. This is truly a fluid issue and things are changing daily.
We do not have a general meeting scheduled in March. The meeting location for our April meeting – Haliburtion School of Art + Design - was cancelled this morning; they are not permitting any community use of the space until late April and will reassess future commitments at that time. Therefore we will cancel the April general meeting at this time, in anticipation of the challenges in securing a location, and the likelihood this situation will not be resolved by April.
I reached out to HKPR yesterday as well as CFUW regional for some direction. I heard back from HKPR within the past hour. They stated that we are to decide on our own about suspension of small groups at this time, doing a risk assessment. They provided a link to a Public Health Canada risk assessment tool designed for mass gatherings but which is also applicable to small gatherings. The link is https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/health-professionals/mass-gatherings-risk-assesment.html
Basically we are to assess the following items:
1. Assess the group activities - are these groups that are high touch, involving sharing of items which are passed from person to person (eg cards in bridge and euchre club)
2. Assess the meeting space - are these groups meeting in close quarters or is there the ability to spread out (eg hiking club or spacing seats 2 meters part from each other in book club and not sharing books), and the duration of the meeting (shorter is better)
3. Assess where members are coming from - have any group members been travelling? In particular to high risk locations such as Hubei province in China, Iran or Italy?
4. Assess the risk profile of group members - are participants older and/or have comorbidities - all of which increase risk
5. And of course, each member to assess their own personal health status - fever, chills, aches, coughs, sore throats or other symptoms
So we are going to ask that members do the assessment using the document/link provided for their own personal risk about attending groups.
We will recommend the following:
1. That euchre, bridge and cuisine clubs be suspended at this time
2. That book clubs only continue to meet if they are assured of adequate spacing of seats (2 meters) and no sharing of books
3. Hiking groups can continue to meet if space (2 meters) is maintained and no items are shared
4.That if groups meet, there are no shared items, and that any food and drink be prepackaged (not buffet style or shared utensils) and preferably each participant brings their own
If you do choose to attend a group, we would ask that you
1. Continue to practice good hand hygiene prior to, during, and after meetings, avoid touching your face, and avoid personal contact in the form of hugging and handshakes.
2. If you have a fever, cough, chills or are otherwise ill that you do not attend
3. If you have travelled internationally that you do not attend for 14 days upon returning home.
Members are reminded that COVID-19 may be more severe in persons over 60 years of age, especially in the presence of comorbidity in our members and/or their immediate families.
The government of Ontario has provided a website with information sheets on the virus, and how to protect yourself. You can find it at Ontario.ca. It is updated twice daily with the latest information on the situation.
CFUW Ontario Council advised this morning that the March 28, 2020 Speakers Series program at the Yorkminster Park Baptist Church would be cancelled. Anyone who has registered thus far would be fully reimbursed. They further noted that they will be communicating in the near future regarding the format of our Ontario Council AGM slated for May 22 and 23, 2020 at Georgian Collage.
CFUW National advised this morning they had decided to change the format of the 2020 AGM to a virtual AGM instead of the planned in-person AGM and Conference scheduled for Ottawa in June.
So, hopefully this is helpful to all of you in understanding that the situation is moving incredibly quickly in Canada and we have taken our advice from public health. We have not taken this decision lightly, but do believe given the demographic of CFUW-HH, and our mobility re travel and the types of small groups we participate in, that this direction is necessary. We will continue to provide updates as we are able and certainly well prior to the next general meeting in May.
Please feel free to reach out if you have questions, and we will continue to receive guidance from HKPR Health Unit and share it with you.
Dear Members of CFUW Haliburton Highlands
Your board of directors has been monitoring the developments of the COVID-19 virus and its transmission. We are dedicated to reacting but not over reacting to these events, and wanted to provide you with an update. This is truly a fluid issue and things are changing daily.
We do not have a general meeting scheduled in March. The meeting location for our April meeting – Haliburtion School of Art + Design - was cancelled this morning; they are not permitting any community use of the space until late April and will reassess future commitments at that time. Therefore we will cancel the April general meeting at this time, in anticipation of the challenges in securing a location, and the likelihood this situation will not be resolved by April.
I reached out to HKPR yesterday as well as CFUW regional for some direction. I heard back from HKPR within the past hour. They stated that we are to decide on our own about suspension of small groups at this time, doing a risk assessment. They provided a link to a Public Health Canada risk assessment tool designed for mass gatherings but which is also applicable to small gatherings. The link is https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/health-professionals/mass-gatherings-risk-assesment.html
Basically we are to assess the following items:
1. Assess the group activities - are these groups that are high touch, involving sharing of items which are passed from person to person (eg cards in bridge and euchre club)
2. Assess the meeting space - are these groups meeting in close quarters or is there the ability to spread out (eg hiking club or spacing seats 2 meters part from each other in book club and not sharing books), and the duration of the meeting (shorter is better)
3. Assess where members are coming from - have any group members been travelling? In particular to high risk locations such as Hubei province in China, Iran or Italy?
4. Assess the risk profile of group members - are participants older and/or have comorbidities - all of which increase risk
5. And of course, each member to assess their own personal health status - fever, chills, aches, coughs, sore throats or other symptoms
So we are going to ask that members do the assessment using the document/link provided for their own personal risk about attending groups.
We will recommend the following:
1. That euchre, bridge and cuisine clubs be suspended at this time
2. That book clubs only continue to meet if they are assured of adequate spacing of seats (2 meters) and no sharing of books
3. Hiking groups can continue to meet if space (2 meters) is maintained and no items are shared
4.That if groups meet, there are no shared items, and that any food and drink be prepackaged (not buffet style or shared utensils) and preferably each participant brings their own
If you do choose to attend a group, we would ask that you
1. Continue to practice good hand hygiene prior to, during, and after meetings, avoid touching your face, and avoid personal contact in the form of hugging and handshakes.
2. If you have a fever, cough, chills or are otherwise ill that you do not attend
3. If you have travelled internationally that you do not attend for 14 days upon returning home.
Members are reminded that COVID-19 may be more severe in persons over 60 years of age, especially in the presence of comorbidity in our members and/or their immediate families.
The government of Ontario has provided a website with information sheets on the virus, and how to protect yourself. You can find it at Ontario.ca. It is updated twice daily with the latest information on the situation.
CFUW Ontario Council advised this morning that the March 28, 2020 Speakers Series program at the Yorkminster Park Baptist Church would be cancelled. Anyone who has registered thus far would be fully reimbursed. They further noted that they will be communicating in the near future regarding the format of our Ontario Council AGM slated for May 22 and 23, 2020 at Georgian Collage.
CFUW National advised this morning they had decided to change the format of the 2020 AGM to a virtual AGM instead of the planned in-person AGM and Conference scheduled for Ottawa in June.
So, hopefully this is helpful to all of you in understanding that the situation is moving incredibly quickly in Canada and we have taken our advice from public health. We have not taken this decision lightly, but do believe given the demographic of CFUW-HH, and our mobility re travel and the types of small groups we participate in, that this direction is necessary. We will continue to provide updates as we are able and certainly well prior to the next general meeting in May.
Please feel free to reach out if you have questions, and we will continue to receive guidance from HKPR Health Unit and share it with you.
