Response to COVID-19

Memorandum

To: All Seasons Centre for Grieving Children Families, Volunteers, and
Members of our Community
From: Rowley Ramey, Managing Director
Date: 13 March 2020
Subject: Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
___________________________________________________________________________

With growing global concerns around COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus), I wanted to provide you with an update on our response to date and our commitment to you moving forward. The health, safety and well-being of our participants, volunteers, employees and guests is Seasons Centre’s top priority and we are following the lead of Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) authorities at this important time. We are committed to providing safe grief support services at our Centre and outreach programs.

First and foremost, I want to assure our participants, volunteers, and guests that we are taking all appropriate measures to ensure our Centre is safe, and that we have existing plans and training protocols in place to ensure they stay that way. While the Public Health Agency of Canada has assessed the current public health risk associated with coronavirus as low, we continue to monitor for developments very closely.

We have implemented additional measures to ensure your safety as well as the safety of our team including:

– Introducing enhanced cleaning protocols, with focus on high traffic and high contact areas. Coronaviruses are easily eliminated by routine surface cleaning and the cleaning products we use are industrial-grade and food service approved

– Increasing communications and reminders with our participants, volunteers, and guests, partners and employees on important health and safety measures

– We are actively encouraging employees to stay home if they present with any symptoms

To protect yourself and others, we ask that anyone who is feeling unwell refrain from visiting us so that together we can ensure a safe and comfortable experience for everyone. If you present with any flu-like symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath we ask that you remain home. If you have a compromised immune system, we recommend you choose to stay home. Know that we are doing our part by putting employment policies in place so that our team members are protected and are not penalized financially if they need to stay home.

What You Can Do for Yourself and Others:

– If you have recently traveled to any country listed on the  Public Health Agency of Canada’s Travel Health Advisories page with a Level 3 or higher, or you have been in close contact with anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19, we ask that you follow the World Health Organization’s recommendation to self-isolate for 14 days and monitor yourself for symptoms.

– If you present with any flu-like symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath we ask that you consider rescheduling your visit to Seasons Centre until you are healthy

-If you have a compromised immune system, we recommend you choose to stay home and forego your visit until the situation with COVID-19 improves

– While visiting Seasons Centre, we ask that you continue practicing thorough handwashing etiquette and routine health etiquette practices designed to protect oneself. For your convenience, hand sanitizer or hand wipes will be available upon entering the Centre. You can also wash your hands in the bathroom off the foyer

It is important that we work together as a community and support one another in the coming weeks and throughout this public health crisis.

Again, we continue to monitor this situation closely and will provide ongoing updates as needed. We also encourage our participants, volunteers, guests and team members to stay up-to-date through the SMDHU or  Canada’s Public Health website.

Talking to Children About COVID-19:

It is very important to remember that children look to adults for guidance on how to react to stressful events. If parents seem overly worried, children’s anxiety may rise. Parents should reassure children that health and school officials are working hard to ensure that people throughout the country stay healthy. However, children also need factual, age appropriate information about the potential seriousness of disease risk and concrete instruction about how to avoid infections and spread of disease. Teaching children positive preventive measures, talking with them about their fears, and giving them a sense of some control over their risk of infection can help reduce anxiety. More information and suggestions can be found here.


Thank you and we look forward to welcoming you soon,

Rowley Ramey
Managing Director