WCCA 转载Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang 至本地区全体居民的一封...

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WCCA 转载Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang 至本地区全体居民的一封公开信（节选）2020

关于COVID-19疫情的更新

负责滑铁卢地区公共卫生和应急服务的卫生署负责人Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang

于2020年11月16日至本地区全体居民的一封公开信（节选）

必需采取的措施

·       COVID-19新冠肺炎疫情正在滑铁卢地区迅速蔓延。

·       疫情正在本地区恶化和扩散，逼近“封锁”红区(Red Zone)。如果现在对我们的生活行为习惯不做出重大改变，那么本地区将会进入“封锁”状态（Lockdown Zone）。

·       从现在开始，我们需要大幅度减少社交接触:

o   只有在必要的时候出门，如：上班、上学和采购等。

o   限制社交接触在家庭范围内。某些情况例外，如，对老年及独居者提供必要帮助的服务人员（一到两位）。

·       这意味着我们需要避免与朋友、同事，以及不居住在同一住所的其他大家庭成员进行社交接触。

·       我请求所有滑铁卢地区的居民通过我们每个人自觉防御行动来帮助我们的社区。

·       如果我们继续放任我们的活动范围，我们未来将受到更严格的活动限制。

·       由于我们过去所做出的选择(其结果已反映在我们今天的发病率上)，我们将经历一段由于更严格限制而带来的艰难时期。

COVID-19的现状

·       上周五，安省卫生部长克里斯汀·埃利奥特 (Christin Elliott) 表示：“在过去一周，我们看到全省各个地区主要公共卫生指标的趋势发生了令人震惊的变化。”我们滑铁卢地区也确实看到了这种况：

o   在过去两周里，我们的发病率上升到之前的三倍之多。

o   我们的疫情在数量、规模和复杂性方面迅速扩大。

o   在过去几天里，我们的住院人数增加到原来的三倍。

o   随之而来的将会是死亡人数的增加。

·       而发病率上升只是我们最先看到的冰山一角。

·       当多个环境及场景中出现大量病例时，会导致众多病例在不同环境下的集聚发生或爆发，从而导致疫情更广泛和更快的社区传播。

·       加速上升的发病率导致Covid-19 在我们社区呈指数级传播。

·       根据我们上周看到的情况，滑铁卢地区的居民应当认识到COVID-19目前正在社区广泛传播。

o   如果有症状，留在家里，不要去上班，不要去上学。

o   施行自我隔离并预约接受测试。

·       测试预约现在很容易获得，我们有足够的人员配备，测试周转时间也很快。

·       在我们正式被纳入红区(Red Zone) 之前，我要求所有滑铁卢地区的居民通过我们每个人都能采取的个人行动来齐心协力帮助我们的社区。

结束语

·       我们每个人的行为是决定COVID-19传播的最大因素，我们如何做出与他人社交互动的选择将决定最终是我们控制了疫情，还是让疫情控制了我们。

·       在这场全球瘟疫的过程中，滑铁卢地区的居民已经显示出他们愿意挺身而出，尽一切可能抗击疫情，帮助和保护彼此。

·       在我们没有更佳方案选择之前，做到以上提出的选择，就可能减少和降低对我们的企业、生活及生命所带来的影响。

·       让我们把外出及旅行减少到以满足最基本需要的最低限度，并停止所有的社交聚会吧。

·       我们需要现在就做这件事，我们可以大家一起来做。

Sending on behalf of Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang.

The below update was shared at a Special Board of Health meeting this afternoon. You can watch the update on the Region of Waterloo Council YouTube page or read the full update below.

Highlights

• The spread of COVID-19 has escalated rapidly in Waterloo Region
• We are speeding fully into the Red zone of the Provincial Framework. If we do not make major changes now, we will continue towards the Lockdown zone.
• We need to reduce our social interactions:
  
  • Stay home and only go out for essential purposes like going to work, school, getting groceries, keeping a medical appointment or exercising outdoors.
  • Limit social interactions to only those within your household, which can include one or two essential caregivers or essential supports from someone who is living alone.
  • Limit social interactions with friends, co-workers and extended family outside of your household.
    
• Waterloo Region residents should consider COVID-19 to be widely circulating in the community right now.
  

Essential activities

• The spread of COVID-19 has escalated rapidly in the Waterloo Region.
• We are speeding fully into the Red zone. If we do not make major changes now, we will continue towards the Lockdown zone.
• Starting today, we need to dramatically reduce our social interactions:
  

• We need to stay home and only go out for essential purposes like going to work, school, getting groceries, keeping a medical appointment or exercising outdoors.
• We need to limit our social interactions to only those within our households, which can include one or two essential caregivers or essential supports for someone who is living alone.
  

• This means, we need to avoid social interactions with friends, with co-workers when not at work, and with extended family outside of our households.
• I am asking all Waterloo Region residents to help our community through the personal actions that we can each take.
• If we choose to act now, before it gets worse, we can mitigate the period of time we will need to be under significant restrictions.
• I do not want to raise false hopes though.
• Because of the choices we have already made, which are being reflected in our rates today, we will undergo a difficult period of restrictions.
• Our trajectory is already in motion like that of a speeding train towards the Red zone and beyond.
• But we can all make a choice, starting today, to slow that train, stop it, and make it start going in the opposite direction… towards Green.  
  

Current status of COVID-19

• Last Friday, Minister of Health Christine Elliott said,
  
  • "Over the last week, we have seen an alarming shift in the trends of key public health indicators in regions across the province"
  • We have definitely seen this in Waterloo Region.
    
• Our case rates have more than tripled within the last two weeks.
• Our outbreaks have rapidly expanded in number, size and complexity.
• Our hospitalizations have tripled in the last few days.
• An increase in deaths will start to follow.
• Rising case rates are only the tip of the iceberg. What we see first.
• When a large number of cases appear in multiple settings, this leads to multiple clusters and outbreaks in various settings, which leads to broader and faster community spread.
• Accelerating case rates give rise to exponential spread in our community.
  

• Due to what we've seen in the last week, Waterloo Region residents should consider COVID-19 to be widely circulating in the community right now.
  
  • If you have symptoms, do not go to work, do not go to school.
  • Self-isolate and make an appointment to be tested.
  • Testing appointment times are easy to get now, there is capacity, and testing turnaround times are good.
    
• Even before we are officially moved to Red, I am asking all Waterloo Region residents to help our community through the personal actions that we can each take.
  

Closing remarks

• Our personal actions are the biggest determinant of COVID-19 spread, and our choices of how we interact socially with others will determine if we control COVID-19, or if it controls us.
• Throughout this pandemic, Waterloo Region residents have shown they are willing to step up and do what it takes to beat COVID and help protect one other.
• We can make this choice ourselves before we have no other choice and much damage will be done to businesses, livelihoods and lives.
• Let’s limit our trips outside to essential purposes and cease all social gatherings.
• We need to do this now, and we can do this together.
• Thank you.