In his press conference Governor Walz congratulated Minnesotan’s on doing a great job keeping social distance, complying with the Stay at Home order, and flattening the curve. Our actions are certainly saving lives. Without these interventions, the statistical projections were that over 70,000 lives could have been lost in Minnesota – that’s your family, friends and neighbors. But now that will not happen, because we have all joined together to prevent it.
I have an additional message for our home care families, nurses, friends, and advocates: Carry on. More specifically keep social distance and complying with the Stay at Home order. When you are out, take precautions as if everyone else has the Covid-19 virus. That does not mean to wear your snowmobile helmet to the grocery store. It does mean to keep 6 feet from others and to wash your hands thoroughly when you return home. Keep hugging members of your household, but stop sending your kids to play ball with the neighborhood kids. For home care families, it means that we will probably continue this for many more weeks, and maybe even a few more months.
We have seen so many Minnesotans helping each other with grocery shopping, neighborhood signs of encouragement, teacher parades, stocking food shelves, and generally supporting each other. Kudos to everyone who is part of the solution. I want to give a big shout out to our Director of Nursing, Janelle, who made fabric masks for our nurses and families. She even took it as an opportunity to teach her daughter how to sew and give them a project to do together. Now, that’s a Leader in action! Be sure to thank a leader or someone helping in this time of uncertainty. We say a big thank you to Janelle!
