The Globe and Mail - 27.03.2020

FRIDAY,MARCH27,2020| THEGLOBEANDMAILO NEWS | A

Rae Woodhouse last donated
blood about four years ago. But
after she received an e-mail re-
quest for donors from Canadian
Blood Services last week, she
made an appointment and gave
blood the next day.
“With everything going on in
the world, there’s a lot of things
we could be doing to help out.
And this seemed like an easy
enough thing for me to do,” said
Ms. Woodhouse, a third-year
medical student at Queen’s Uni-
versity.
The blood-donation agency
has seen a “dramatic” influx of
Canadians willing to roll up their
sleeves, said Graham Sher, chief
executive officer of Canadian
Blood Services (CBS). The organi-
zation made a public call for do-
nors on March 16 after seeing a
spike in cancellations due to con-
cerns over the new coronavirus.
Since the request, the organiza-
tion has seen not only a return of

its regulars, he said, but an in-

crease in first-time donors and

visits from individuals who have

not donated in a long time.

On Wednesday, the national

blood inventory had returned to

levels consistent with what they

were a few weeks ago, Dr. Sher

said.

According to CBS, COVID-

can’t be transmitted through

blood because blood cells do not

have binding sites for the corona-

virus that causes the illness. The

binding sites for the virus – that is,

the proteins that allow the virus

to attach and invade a cell – are

located in the respiratory tract

and digestive system, it says.

Nevertheless, donating blood

during a pandemic requires spe-

cial precautions. As they arrive,

donors are asked to use hand san-

itizer offered at the entrance of

the clinics. They’re asked to stand

within strategically placed

squares of tape on the floor as

they wait their turn. Chairs are

spaced out, pamphlets that are

given to donors are recycled after

each use and staff wipe down col-

lection beds and surfaces after

each donor.

Dr. Sher emphasized that there

is a need for Canadians to contin-

ue donating blood to maintain a

healthy inventory, and encour-

aged donors to book appoint-

ments not just now, but in the

weeks and months to come.

“Let’s all think of this as a mar-

athon, not a sprint,” Dr. Sher said,

explaining that blood has a short

shelf life and cannot be stock-

piled.

From the time it is collected,

red blood cells can last about 42

days, while platelets have a shelf

life of seven days.

On Thursday, Canadian Blood

Services had five days worth of O-

negative blood, a key measure of

the national blood inventory as

this blood type is compatible

with all patients.

By comparison, during the rise

in donor cancellations, it had on-

ly enough O-negative blood to

last about three days or fewer.

While the suspension of elec-

tive surgeries at hospitals across

the country has slightly reduced

demand, he said, blood is still

needed for other uses, such as for

trauma, bleeding and cancer pa-

tients.

For some donors, giving blood

is just one of many ways that

they’re trying to support others.

In Ottawa, Stephen Lorne, a

first-time donor, said his local

clinic was fully booked and the

earliest appointment he could

make was the middle of next

week.

Mr. Lorne said he saw donating

blood as something meaningful

he could do during the pandemic,

even though he is squeamish of

needles and getting blood work

done can cause him to pass out.

“If the system is all concentrat-

ed on dealing with the coronavi-

rus and people are paranoid

about going out and giving blood,

then I just started imagining what

that means for people with other

[health] problems,” said Mr.

Lorne, who works as a technician

for film and TV commercials. “My

industry is temporarily dead, so

it’s not like I don’t have the time.

If I’m going to do it, this is the

time.”

As a medical student, Ms.

Woodhouse is helping to co-ordi-

nate fellow medical student vol-

unteers to provide child care for

health-care workers. She is also

helping to source personal pro-

tective equipment for health-care

staff.

After donating blood on

Wednesday morning (his 156th

donation), Wes Schollenberg of

Winnipeg planned to bake oat-

meal chocolate chip cookies and

carefully deliver them to the

doorsteps of neighbours and fam-

ily members. He also intended to

drop off that day’s newspaper, af-

ter reading it, to a 90-year-old

woman who lives across the

street.

Helping others alleviates his

boredom and helps him cope, he

said.

“Regardless of how bad things

are, there are so many people

who have it much worse,” he said.

Blooddonationssurgeafterpublicplea

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WENCYLEUNGHEALTHREPORTER

RaeWoodhouse

Witheverything

goingoninthe

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RAEWOODHOUSE

THIRD-YEAR MEDICAL

STUDENT

Samir Sinha, the director of geria-
trics at Sinai Health System, said
it is imperative to have good data
on COVID-19 cases in long-term
care so hospitals can prepare for a
possible influx of patients in se-
vere respiratory distress.
“Nursing homes are like tinder
boxes,” said Dr. Sinha, also an ad-
viser to the Ontariogovernment
on seniors’ issues. “You have a
group of frail, older adults who
are in close quarters with each
other, with many of them being
cared for by the same individual.”
Ontario’s lack of centralized
reporting is also causing confu-
sion and stress for relatives of
nursing-home residents. Mem-
bers of at least one family had to
struggle to get details from a
home they could no longer visit
because of a ban on visitors de-
signed to keep the coronavirus
out.
The Globe’s informal survey
found that at least one case of CO-
VID-19 had been confirmed at the
following homes: Markhaven
Home for Seniors in Markham;
St. Joseph’s Health Centre
Guelph; Heritage Green Nursing
Home in Stoney Creek; Hillsdale
Terraces in Oshawa; and Pine-
crest Nursing Home in Bobcayge-
on.
The Niagara Region’s public-
health unit, which did not re-
spond to The Globe’s inquiry, had
previously reported that the first
person in the region to die was a
man in his 80s who was a resident
of the Ina Grafton Gage long-
term-care and retirement homes
in St. Catharines.
Toronto’s Medical Officer of
Health, Eileen de Villa, told re-
porters on Thursday that 10 long-
term homes in the city and one
retirement home now have CO-
VID-19 cases. Three have out-
breaks – defined as two or more
cases in a home, Dr. de Villa add-
ed.
Dr. de Villa did not name the
nursing homes, and Toronto Pub-
lic Health was unable to provide a
list by late Thursday.
“COVID-19 in the context of
long-term-care homes is always

concerning,” Dr. de Villa said. “We

know that COVID-19, in particu-

lar, is a virus that hits hard on

those who are on the older side of

the age spectrum, and also hits

hard on those who have chronic

conditions.”

At Scarborough’s Seven Oaks,

a 249-bed city-owned facility, CO-

VID-19 had been confirmed in

nine residents and seven staff as

of Thursday, associate medical of-

ficer of health Elizabeth Rea said

by e-mail.

Two residents of the home

have died of COVID-19.

Rod and Greg McVeigh, whose

parents, Joan, 79, and Joseph, 76,

live on the fourth floor of Seven

Oaks, said they learned of the

outbreak through the media.

The home, which sent official

coronavirus updates to a defunct

e-mail address of Rod’s, initially

failed to reply to calls and e-mails

from the brothers.

After reading on March 20 that

a case had been confirmed on the

third floor of the home, Greg said

he reached a nurse by phone and

asked that his mother eat in her

room, rather than the communal

dining room. (His father, who has

congestive heart failure, is bed-

ridden and already takes meals in

his room.)

Greg said the nurse told him

communal dining would contin-

ue on the fourth floor because

coronavirus had not yet been

confirmed on that level. The virus

was later confirmed in a fourth-

floor resident.

Ms. McVeigh now has a fever

and is awaiting the results of CO-

VID-19 testing, her sons said.

“The whole family is on edge,”

Rod said. “I’m just waiting for the

phone call to tell me my Dad has

a fever, too.”

Dr. Rea said by e-mail that Sev-

en Oaks has implemented all To-

ronto Public Health’s outbreak

protocols, including establishing

an outbreak management team

with health experts who are

meeting daily.

The home extended outbreak

precautions to the whole build-

ing on March 23, when the first

case was identified on the fourth

floor, Dr. Rea added.

Nursinghomes:Long-termcarefacilities‘areliketinderboxes,’doctorsays

TworesidentshavediedofCOVID-19atlong-termcarefacilitySevenOaks,seenonThursdayinToronto.

Thediseasehasalsobeenconfirmedinnineresidentsandsevenstaff.FREDLUM/THEGLOBEANDMAIL

FROMA

OTTAWADespite the daunting
hurdles posed by the COVID-
pandemic, Iran must live up to
its pledge to co-operate with the
investigation into its downing of
a commercial airliner in January,
says Foreign Affairs Minister
François-Philippe Champagne.
That includes the unfulfilled,
two-week-old promise by Tehran
to surrender the flight recorders
of Ukraine International Airlines
Flight 752, which the Iranian
military shot down on Jan. 8.
All 176 people aboard were
killed, including 55 passengers
who were Canadian citizens and
30 who were permanent resi-
dents.
In separate interviews Mr.
Champagne and Andriy Shev-
chenko, the Ukrainian ambassa-
dor to Canada, said the black
boxes have not been sent to Kyiv
as Iran had pledged.

Iran is one of the hardest-hit

countries in the pandemic with

more than 27,000 cases of the

virus and more than 2,

deaths.

“On one hand, this is a crisis,

a health crisis of unprecedented

proportion that we’re living,” Mr.

Champagne said. “But on the

other hand, we need to make

sure that we get answers. We

have to push for these answers

and push the Iranian regime for

that.”

Families had been hoping for

updates on efforts to hold those

responsible accountable and

secure compensation from Iran

and the airline. The RCMP are

assisting Ukraine’s criminal

probe into the crash while the

Transportation Safety Board is

involved in Iran’s flight-safety

investigation.

THECANADIANPRESS

IRANMUSTCO-OPERATEWITHINQUIRYINTODOWNED
UKRAINIANPLANEDESPITEPANDEMICHURDLES:CHAMPAGNE

Paid for by the Government of Ontario

2019NovelCoronavirus(COVID-19)

Whatyouneedtoknow

tohelpyouandyour

familystayhealthy.

• Only visit an assessment centre if you have
  been referred by a health care professional.


• Avoid non-essential travel.


• Monitor for symptoms after travel.


• Avoid large gatherings.


• Be prepared, but avoid panic stocking.


• Caring for those who are ill? Take precautions.


• Clean high-touch surfaces regularly.


• Order your prescription medication.


• Practice cough and sneeze etiquette in transit.

Ifyouhavesymptoms,take the self-assessment

at ontario.ca/coronavirus. Or call Telehealth

Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 (TTY: 1-866-797-0007)

or your public health unit.