July 25, 2020

BUCKLEY STAYING ‘POSITIVE’ ABOUT POSITIVE COVID TEST

GRAVENHURST — Christine Buckley wants to be “positive” and “kind” and “respectful” about a positive testing of COVID-19 within her firm.

The owner of the accounting company, who announced Friday that an unidentified member of her “team” had the corona virus, says she’s wants her message to be “kind and in the spirit of sharing and learning together.”

In an email exchange today, July 25 (her phone is out of order), she hopes that by reaching out publicly and bringing “awareness” she can help “turn our hearts to unity and wisdom to help each other.”

She said she would talk more later.

But in her email she expressed some concern that more people may have had virus and “puzzlement of how to best serve each other’s safety and well-being.”

She said: “While we don’t feel that blame or shame is appropriate, we want to raise awareness and foster collaboration for the well being of all of us.

“There has been an influx of visitors to the area and people are relaxing more and more.

“We wanted to raise awareness in the area of kindness and respect for one another through honest communication and the wearing of protective equipment; as well as the increased washing procedures recommended; and also in the area of testing periodically.

“The test is quite uncomfortable, but doesn’t last long and you are in and out very quickly; causing very little inconvenience to your day.

“It is too easy to mistake the symptoms for something else while you continue to walk around in public (albeit wearing masks, sanitizing and washing, etc.),” Buckley wrote to MuskokaTODAY.com this morning.

“There is also confusion and distrust,” she said “surrounding contagion periods, conflicting information on safety protocols when you report suspicion of contact and a general feeling of puzzlement of how to best serve each other’s safety and well-being.

“We feel it is likely that a lot more people have and have had this virus than most realize, and hope that our transparency and honesty will inspire others to be more cautious, courteous and to test more. We really are all in this together, and sharing knowledge in an honest, unafraid way will help us get to the other side of this global situation.

“There is definitely mass-panic due to the lack of knowledge.

“There is no blame. We need to turn our hearts to unity and wisdom to help each other.

“The signs are easily overlooked in the strong, but can be devastating to the already compromised, high-risk groups.

“Let’s be kind to one another. Share openly and be respectful.”

Meanwhile, Buckley said yesterday she has closed the doors to her new office in downtown Gravenhurst.