{"id":13810,"date":"2020-03-31T15:25:42","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T18:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=13810"},"modified":"2020-03-31T15:25:42","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T18:25:42","slug":"column-veterinary-medicine-covid-19-lets-work-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=13810","title":{"rendered":"COLUMN: Veterinary Medicine & COVID-19 \u2013 Let\u2019s Work Together."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Dr. Trevor Lawson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may have noticed a lot has changed these past few weeks; nothing is as it was yesterday.\u00a0 This is for very good reason.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19 is a serious public health risk that is affecting us all, individuals and businesses, and we all need to do what we must to limit the speed of spread.\u00a0 Have you wondered \u2013 what does this mean for an individual?\u00a0 What does this mean for a business in my community?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For you it means literally staying home unless you must go\nout over the next few weeks.  If you are\nin a high-risk age demographic, please ask a family or community member to run\nyour errands.  There has been a lot of\ntalk about \u201csocial distancing\u201d, but the truth is that \u201cstaying home\u201d is the\nmost effective way to achieve this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you know, we have recently confirmed COVID-19 cases right\nhere in our community, in a senior\u2019s care facility and restaurant no less.  This is not someone else\u2019s problem, not\nsomeone else\u2019s to solve.  Each of us can\nbe part of the solution.  Please ask\nyourself, do I need to go out to do this or can it wait a few weeks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For businesses, the one\u2019s who you have helped build by your\nsupport, it means difficult times.  Many\nsmall businesses are going to struggle, but they too have responsibility to be\npart of the solution.  The Public Health\nState of Emergency has mandated many businesses closed in order to reduce\npublic movement and contact of individuals. \nSelect others have been provided \u201cessential\u201d status so that critical\nelements of society do not get left unattended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association\n(our regulator) worked closely with government to assure continued access to\nveterinary care in Nova Scotia.  This was\na critical step for everyone, and we are all relieved and thankful for the government\u2019s\ndecision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now this is the important part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEssential\u201d does not mean business as usual, and those\nbusinesses deemed essential have a large responsibility to the public to do\nwhat they can to reduce public movement, often by restricting their normal\nbusiness and postponing important items that can wait a little while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next few weeks will be critical in determining our\noutcome in the corridor community area. \nWill we see rapid growth of COVID cases, or will it be a trickle?  Our actions matter and will directly\ncontribute to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are in the business of providing veterinary health care\nto your \u201cfamily\u201d members who are so important to help us get through the tough\ndays.  We are also in the business of\nensuring the best possible public health outcomes for you, our clients and\ncommunity.  This is not new, veterinarians\nare experts in zoonotic diseases, and we have always applied our knowledge to prevent\nrisk to you all the while taking care of your pets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now though, this is different, veterinarians must use their\nknowledge to help protect your health while postponing important care for your\npet.  This is a tough balance, but we are\ncommitted to achieve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this look like at your veterinary practice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It means when you call to see about having your new pups spay\ndone your Vet will advise you that is not something we can do right now, but\nhopefully next month, please be patient. \nIt means when you call your Vet about the important dental cleaning you\nhad planned, they will explain that we are going to have to wait for a bit but\nwe\u2019ll get to it as soon as it is more safe to do so.  It means that when you call about your annual\nvisit or rabies booster, they will tell you we have to wait for a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your veterinarian isn\u2019t saying \u201cno\u201d, but they are saying\n\u201cnot right now\u201d for all cases that can safely wait a bit.  Remember the most repeated advice of the\nPremier of Nova Scotia and the Prime Minister of Canada \u2013 \u201cstay home\u201d unless\nyou must go out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news though, we will get your pet fit in as soon as\nthe COVID risk starts to subside.  In the\nmeantime, your veterinarian will manage each case as best they can for both\nyour pet\u2019s health and our community\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most important of all though, the good news is that your veterinarian is prepared to undertake tele-health consults during this time where you need to \u201cstay home\u201d, and that they will see the patients that must be seen in clinic \u2013 no serious health issue will be allowed to linger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we are going to do our best for you and your animal, what\nwe need most is your cooperation, understanding and patience.  Believe me, we all wish it were life as we\nknew it, small sacrifices now will help us get there sooner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Trevor Lawson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fundy Veterinarians Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nova Scotia Council Member, Canadian Veterinary Medical\nAssociation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Trevor Lawson is a practice owner with Fundy Veterinarians in Shubenacadie Nova Scotia and lives in Carroll\u2019s Corner.\u00a0 He has been a longstanding volunteer with the CVMA, Canada\u2019s national veterinary organization and the NSVMA whose primary responsibility it regulating the veterinary profession in Nova Scotia.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Dr. Trevor Lawson You may have noticed a lot has changed these past few weeks; nothing is as it was yesterday.\u00a0 This is for very good reason.\u00a0 COVID-19 is a serious public health risk that is affecting us all, individuals and businesses, and we all need to do what we must to limit the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[997,965],"tags":[975,998,999],"class_list":["post-13810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-east-hants","tag-covid19","tag-dr-trevor-lawson","tag-veterinarian-medicine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}