OTTAWA -- Can I have a birthday party with my friends? When will the COVID-19 virus go away?
Those were some of the questions that kids had for Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health.
Ottawa Public Health posted a video on its Instagram feed of Dr. Vera Etches answering kids’ questions about COVID-19 and the physical distancing measures.
Birthday parties
Five-year-old Leopold asked Dr. Etches “can I have a birthday party with my friends?”
Dr. Etches answered that “right now, people aren’t allowed to get together or have parties with people that don’t live with them in their house so that decreases the virus from spreading.”
“But there are other ways to see your friends, like using Facetime, or Skype, or Zoom. And you can still have a birthday party with the people that live in your house. You have to wait to have one with your friends in person.”
COVID-19 treatment
Six-year-old Eric asked Dr. Etches asked “is there a medicine and what do you do if you catch COVID-19?”
Dr. Etches says “there’s no medicine for the virus and there’s no vaccine yet, so most people who catch the virus will bet better on their own.”
“If you get sick with COVID-19 you need to drink lots of fluids, like water or soup, get a lot of rest and sleep. You could use a humidifier or take a hot shower, which can cause moisture that helps with a sore throat or a cough.”
Source of the virus
Seven-year-old Caleb appeared with his five-year-old brother Felix. Caleb asked “how did the virus start? How did it get in Canada?”
Dr. Etches says “the virus got into Canada because some people in a different part of the world didn’t know they had the virus in them, they came to Canada and then passed it on to other people. Then those people passed it on to more people.”
Eliminating the virus
In French, five-year-old William asked when the virus is going away.
Dr. Etches answered “we don’t know when the virus will go away. Lots of people are working really hard to help get rid of the virus or stop it from spreading.”
“We want our lives to go back to normal as soon as possible, and experts are studying when that can be. Until things are better and it is safe, we need to keep staying home to protect ourselves and others.”
Enough food?
Nine-year-old JoJo asked “are the stores going to close and will we run out of food?”
The Medical Officer of Health says “grocery stores will not shutdown. Everyone needs food, so grocery stores have to stay open. And we have a lot of food in Canada.”
