We wanted to share a message from the Executive Director of Inclusion BC, Karla Verschoor. We felt her video message below was an important one to send out to our community so we hope you can take the time to watch it.

What Karla says in her message echos how we feel at CVS. We are all stronger together and we want to support everyone in our community in any way we can. Please reach out to us if you ever need to.

On Wednesday, April 1, 2020, the Office of the Provincial Health Officer provided further guidance to help protect the safety and well-being of individuals and support workers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The notice from the Office of the Provincial Health Officer was as follows:

In light of the increasing community transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19 in British Columbia we encourage CLBC to continue implementing public health measures including:

• physical distancing of at least 2 meters (learn more here)

• frequent hand hygiene (learn more here)

• cleaning and disinfection

• self-isolation of individuals who have symptoms of COVID-19 for a minimum of 10 days

More information regarding the public health measures described above can be found on the BCCDC website. Reducing the number of interactions between individuals will help further reduce the spread of COVID-19.

CVS is currently doing everything to reduce the spread of COVID-19 across its community. The steps we have taken since January have sought to minimize exposure and enable us to still provide support for the individuals we serve. We will continue to do this and assess situations on a case-by-case basis as needed.

We know that this is a very uncertain time for us all and, for many, uncertainty can lead to anxiety. This is a hard time for most of us and a large portion of our population are facing anxiety at the moment. On a positive note, we are all in this together and this, in a strange way, may make it easier to open up to others about.

That being said, we wanted to take the time to share this helpful Information page that has been prepared by The Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division. This webpage is called \”COVID-19 & Anxiety\” and outlines the reality of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as tips to help you through this time.

To access this information, please click here.

We wanted to share a booklet we thought was useful in providing you with some science-based, integrative medicine strategies for helping you to keep yourself and loved ones healthy in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This e-booklet is written by Cynthia Li, MD. and has some interesting tips that are worthwhile reading.

Dr. Li’s e-booklet covers:

• Power foods and supplements
• Moving your body
• Getting a daily dose of nature, even indoors
• Improving sleep
• Practicing pleasure
• Additional tips, measures, and precautions

To access Dr. Li\’s e-booklet, please click on the image below.

We wanted to provide a summary of benefits that have been announced by the Government for our community. We hope this helps you all as you navigate some of the uncertainty that we are currently facing now as a society.

Canada Emergency Response Benefit – 4 month program

• • https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/cerb-application.html
  • To apply (on or after April 6) – use your MyCRA online account or call the number provided in the link
    • Specific instructions for how to apply by phone and online are included in the above link
    • Specific dates are available for applications based on your birth month (see above link)
• You will need to reapply every month to continue receiving benefits
• This is for people facing unemployment OR not able to work due to Covid-19 OR for those who are sick, quarantined, or in direct self-isolation, and who are NOT eligible for EI – this is only for individuals who are no longer earning any income due to Covid-19
• Government of Canada will provide a taxable benefit of $2,000 a month in a single payment ($500/week) for up to 4 months (16 weeks) to:
  • workers who must stop working due to COVID19 and do not have access to paid leave or other income support.
  • workers who are sick, quarantined, or taking care of someone who is sick with COVID-19.
  • working parents who must stay home without pay to care for children that are sick or need additional care because of school and daycare closures.
  • workers who still have their employment but are not being paid because there is currently not sufficient work and their employer has asked them not to come to work.
  • wage earners and self-employed individuals, including contract workers, who would not otherwise be eligible for Employment Insurance.

Regular EI

• https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-regular-benefit.html
• If someone was to get laid off for no fault of their own
• Must be filed within 4 weeks of being laid off
• Eligible if:
  • were employed in insurable employment;
  • lost your job through no fault of your own;
  • have been without work and without pay for at least seven consecutive days in the last 52 weeks;
  • have worked for the required number of insurable employment hours in the last 52 weeks or since the start of your last EI claim, whichever is shorter;
  • are ready, willing and capable of working each day;
  • are actively looking for work (you must keep a written record of employers you contact, including when you contacted them).
• Rate of pay is 55% of your insurable weekly earnings (max $52,200/year). Max weekly payment is $573/week
• Can receive EI payments for a max of 45 weeks

EI (COVID-19 Quarantine)

• https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/notices/coronavirus.html
• Similar to sickness benefits but the 1 week wait period is waived 
• People who are unable to apply due to quarantine may apply later and have their EI payment backdated to cover the period of delay
• See regular sickness benefits for more information

EI (REGULAR) Sickness Benefits

• https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-sickness.html
• For those who cannot work due to medical reasons
• Eligible if
  • you\’re unable to work for medical reasons
  • your regular weekly earnings from work have decreased by more than 40% for at least one week
  • you accumulated 600 insured hours* of work in the 52 weeks before the start of your claim or since the start of your last claim, whichever is shorter
• Provides up to 15 weeks of payment
• Rate of pay is 55% of your insurable weekly earnings (max $52,200/year). Max weekly payment is $573/week

EI (REGULAR) Caregiving Benefits & Leave

• https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/caregiving.html
• For those who need to take time off to care for family (or someone “like” family)
• Eligible if:
  • You are a family member of the person who is critically ill or injured or needing end-of-life care, or you are considered to be like a family member
  • Your regular weekly earnings from work have decreased by more than 40% for at least one week because you need to take time away from work to provide care or support to the person
  • You accumulated 600 insured hours of work in the 52 weeks before the start of your claim, or since the start of your last claim, whichever is shorter. For example, 600 hours is equivalent to 15 weeks of work at 40 hours per week
  • A medical doctor or nurse practitioner has certified that the person you are providing care or support to is critically ill or injured or needing end-of-life care
• Rate of pay is 55% of your insurable weekly earnings (max $52,200/year). Max weekly payment is $573/week

Child Benefit plan

• https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan/covid19-individuals.html#increasing_canada_child_benefit
• If you receive the Child Benefit Plan, your payment for this year has been increased by $300/child
• Will be paid automatically in May – no need to register for the amount increase

If you are interested in learning about other benefits that are being offered such as cost reductions, housing and business benefits, please click here.

We wanted to share a video that we found of some incredible blues-style piano playing and singing Al Foreman. The song is called \”The Self-Isolation Blues\”.

The Foreman\’s actually have been supporters of CVS and the work that we do. Additionally Al\’s wife served as CVS Board Chair in the past.

Take some time to lighten up your day by watching The Self-Isolation Blues:

Dear Families, Caregivers, Staff and the People We Serve,

I am writing to you tonight to advise that it was recently reported to us that three staff at CVS had been in contact with a person who was in contact with someone at the Dufferin Care centre where someone is infected with the COVID-19 virus. I would like to reinforce that there was no direct contact between our staff members and the confirmed case. We are releasing this announcement to be fully transparent to staff, the individuals we serve and their families.

Once we were advised of this by staff, we proceeded to contact the Ministry of Health and were advised to ask these employees to self isolate for 14 days. One employee attempted to get tested but they were told they were not at high enough risk to be tested. The Ministry of Health also advised us that anyone that has been in contact with these three employees continue with the precautions of frequent hand-washing and social distancing and that no other action is necessary at this time. The staff members have both used the BC Government COVID-19 online assessment tool and are not in the high risk category at this time.

In response to concern over the spread of COVID -19 across our CVS facilities, our leadership team has made the decision to close the Port Coquitlam office. The Port Moody head office will still be operational but we are currently only supporting a small number of individuals at this location and, where there is a need, we are redeploying our staff to provide support in the individuals’ home. We want to thank the cooperation from all families involved during this challenging time. While we understand this situation is not ideal, in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we feel that this is the best solution at this time.

As we move to a new temporary model of support for many of the individuals we serve, we would like to remind our staff, individuals we serve and families the importance of being aware of your current health status. If there are any concerns it is important that you get medical advice from an expert by calling your doctor, 811 or 1-888-COVID19 to discuss your risk. You can also go to BC’s online COVID-19 assessment tool by clicking here. There is an alternative self assessment here. Additionally, the Government of Canada has created a guide to provide more information on the differences between self monitoring, self isolation & isolation. To view this guide, please click here.

More information can be found here and employees can get more information from WorksafeBC.

If you have any questions about the information shared above, please contact myself, Linda King or Pete Stone.