THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY OF ONTARIO

      Annual   General   Meeting

Here are the details if you are interested in attending.

Location: Rouge Valley Mennonite Church, 7452 Reesor Road, Markham ON
Date : Saturday, April 15th, 2023

10:30 AM – 2:00 PM

Lunch:  will be provided

RSVP – if planning to attend, please reply by April 8th, 2023

President:  Dave Burkholder 902-294-3202 –  daveyrb1952@gmail.com

REESOR FAMILY IN CANADA REUNION  (postponed in 2020)

Saturday,  June 24th, 2023    10am to 4pm
@ Markham Fairgrounds, Livestock Pavilion Complex, Markham ON

Check Reesor Family in Canada website – https://reesorfamily.on.ca/
for additional updates and details.

2021 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) virus

November 2022 –While Ontario, like other jurisdictions, has taken measures to be able to live with and manage COVID-19 for the long-term, we all still need to do our part to protect ourselves and others, especially during respiratory illness season. This includes practising good hand hygiene, wearing a mask if in buildings or if you feel it is right for you, staying home when you are sick, and staying up to date on your vaccinations.

Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, recommends the public don masks when in public buildings .

What you need to know to stop the spread of COVID-19

  • Avoid close contact with others and stay home
  • Wear a face mask when in public places or with people outside of your ‘bubble’
  • Practice physical distancing –  stay two meters from other people
  • Wash hands with soap and water thoroughly and often
  • Clean frequently high-touch objects and surfaces
  • Be prepared, but avoid panic buying
  • Stay home if you are sick.

Updates and resources from Public Health Ontario.

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November 2022 – Doctor urges Canadians to ‘avoid getting infected’ and mask up amid viral surge –

“If you can avoid getting infected, you should avoid getting infected,” Isaac Bogoch, infectious diseases specialist at Toronto General Hospital, told the Roy Green Show. “Our hospitals are stretched, especially the pediatric hospitals, and [masking] reduces the risk of transmission in the community,” he said.

“The short answer here is there is no conclusive answer,” he said. “Regardless of what’s driving it, you can reduce your risk of severe illness by getting vaccinated for the flu or COVID and by putting a mask on if you go into an indoor setting.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford urges masking, but stops short of imposing a mandate. He urged members of the public to get their flu shots and be up to date on the COVID-19 vaccinations. “Wear a mask every time possible,” Ford said.

Ontario’s top doctor strongly recommends masking indoors as health system faces ‘extraordinary pressures’. Dr. Kieran Moore said the province’s health system is facing “extraordinary pressures” with the ongoing circulation of COVID-19, the earlier than normal rise in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), as well as influenza.

Moore said Ontarians need to get back to using all the layers of protection that have proven to work over the course of the pandemic. “I’m asking Ontarians, especially children six months of age and older, pregnant individuals, families and caregivers with young children, health-care workers and elderly, and those with underlying health conditions to get your flu shot as soon as possible, [to] protect themselves and those around them,” Moore added.

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COVID-19 facts –

Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.

To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent hand washing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus.

from Global News, December 1, 2020

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Putting the Vaccine Buzz into Perspective
Why it would be wrong to assume the pandemic finish line is just a sprint away.
By Andrew Nikiforuk     THE TYEE     Analysis | Coronavirus | November 27, 2020

It normally takes years to prove the safety of a new vaccine. For starters no one knows how long the current hyped vaccines will last. Will the population need to be re-vaccinated every six months, year or two years? The data doesn’t exist. As a general rule immunity tends not to last long for respiratory diseases.

News that three different vaccines with high rates of efficacy in preventing COVID-19 are on their way has raised hopes. We can all use some cheerful news right about now. But the best medical evidence suggests we should temper our optimism.

Two of the vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer) deploy completely novel technology using messenger RNA (genetic material that encodes viral protein). They appear to do a good job of preventing severe disease, but may not prevent infection. That means people who receive the vaccine could still pass on infection to others. That suggests that the vaccinated will still have to practice social distancing and mask wearing. It also guarantees that the pandemic will not end quickly.

So new high-tech or low-tech vaccines will not quickly deliver us from this messy pandemic nor return us to normal. It would be a mistake therefore to let down our guard and relax proven measures that protect lives: mask-wearing; social distancing; and rigorous testing, tracing and isolation.

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