NOVEMBER 2020 EDITION
Message from DDB by Earl Taylor Chair, Downtown Development Board I put the snowbrush in my car this week! I’m not looking forward to snow, but I’m planning for reality. And, now is the time to plan to check out the many great things happening in Downtown St Thomas. November 11th marks the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Memorial Gardens; however, this year, it is being observed in a slightly different manner with a limited crowd. Please watch for online presentations. Our Downtown Tree Lighting Celebration, once again sponsored by Yurek Pharmacy, has been revised this year. The City Hall Christmas Tree will be lit to officially start the Christmas Season in Downtown St Thomas, although we will not be able to celebrate with Santa Claus while enjoying Christmas songs and free hot chocolate. But Santa Claus is still coming to town to pick up your letters. Please send your letters to DDB@stthomas. ca by November 10th and Santa will read your letters from City Hall on Rogers TV. Once again, we want to thank our generous partners who help to make our Downtown so special. Thank you to Entegrus for installing our LED Snowflakes on the Downtown lamp poles and thanks to the City Parks Dept for installing the great winter displays in our Flower urns spread throughout the Downtown. If you are looking for a Christmas photo op, take a stroll through our Downtown. And if you need new winter attire, tasty Christmas supplies or a bite to eat, I encourage you to checkout our great displays, murals, shops and restaurants.
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S T. T H O M A S , O N TA R I O
St. Thomas — 20% More Life, 80% Less COVID-19 by Steve Bond, Pharmacy Manager Yurek Pharmacy 519 Talbot Street
Statistics can be overwhelming and powerful. Whenever someone wants to really drive a point home, they quote a percentage or some other ratio to explain what they mean. Statistics can bolster a weak argument especially when we don’t understand the relevance. Stats can however, lead people to examine the situation and see if there is causation. For example, compared to the whole of Ontario, our region has only 20% the number of Covid-19 cases per capita. That’s a significant reduction and we should all be proud and relieved by those numbers. While cities, regions and even countries are undergoing serious restrictions to slow their rapidly escalating numbers, our little area is not seeing such exponential growth. So why is this? First of all, we need to look at how the virus spreads. Like many infections, it is passed predominantly by the respiratory secretions when we cough or sneeze. Those in proximity of such secretions take in the virus and become infected themselves. This can occur by breathing in the virus from the air or by touching the face with hands that are covered with the virus. In our region, one thing I notice is that people are following the direction set out by our municipality and local health
authorities by wearing masks and keeping their distance. In areas that are carefully marked out, this is easy to do, but I witness it outside of the marked areas. When I walk my dogs and a pedestrian approaches, intuitively, one of us will veer to the side to maintain physical distance. This is also often the case when I see people standing in lines. That physical bubble is respected without hesitation. Masks have become
a common accessory. Apart from a few paranoid conspiracy believers, most people get that masks help prevent the spread and wear them. I will remind everyone that the proper way to wear a mask covers the mouth AND nose (not covering the nose is like a knight wearing armour over his legs only as he enters into battle). So congratulations to us; we are beacons of hope in this war on the novel Cornavirus. I would however offer a warning: it is easy to become complacent and overconfident. We need to remain vigilant and keep doing those things as recommended by the health authorities. We must continue the fight and to always take care of ourselves and each other.