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Here is a little overview video of what you will find on this padlet!

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When opening your postcard it is always nice to make an opening remark to your reader as a greeting.

e.g.: Dear Frontline hero,
I would like to address this letter to you as a thank you for all of your handwork during the pandemic.

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Here are some opening remarks you can use:

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Here are some opening remarks you can use:

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Dear
Hello
Hi
Greetings
Good evening
Good morning

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When finishing your postcard it is always nice to make a final remark to your reader followed by a signature of your name.

e.g.: Thank you for keeping me safe,
Jessica

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Here are some examples of final remarks you can use:

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Here are some examples of final remarks you can use:

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Thinking of you.
Stay safe
Warm regards.
Warm wishes.
Best.
Thank you.
Thank you for inspiring me.
Thank you for keeping me safe.

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Check out this google docs to find more linking words

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If you are looking for ways to link your ideas you can use something called a linking word. In the example below, the word, moreover, is used to link two ideas together.

e.g.: It must be scary seeing so much pain and loss. Moreover, I can't imagine what it's like to work without a break.

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Here are some examples of linking words:

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Here are some examples of linking words:

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Moreover
Furthermore
Additionally
Consequently
Without a doubt
Above all

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Tips for writing the body of your postcard.

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Tips for writing the body of your postcard.

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When writing your postcard try to keep the following tips in mind:
1) Who is the audience of your postcard?
2) What message do you intend to transmit via your postcard?
3) Why are you sending this postcard (what is your goal)?

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Here is an example of a body of a postcard:

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Here is an example of a body of a postcard:

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I want to take this opportunity to thank you. You have worked so hard throughout this pandemic to care for those who have fallen sick. You are a testament to the true beauty of humankind. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for showing up every day despite the fears I am sure you have faced. We are so lucky to have a nurse like you in our city. You are our hero.

1) Audience: nurse
2) Message: a thank you
3) Goal: a positive message of acknowledgement.

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Looking for inspiration for your postcard?

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Looking for inspiration for your postcard?

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Read about how the pandemic is affecting health care workers

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For Dr. Laura Hawryluck, one of the challenges of working in a strained health-care system is no longer having the time to personally relate to patients.

Under constant pressure due to COVID-19 and staff shortages, Hawryluck said hospital workers are forced to become more task-oriented, doing what they must to keep patients alive and losing the time to really understand them.

Throw the Omicron variant into the mix, and health-care workers are finding themselves in a situation of "dread mixed with a lot of worry" that hospitals will once again fill up with COVID-19 patients, Hawryluck said.

"The worry is that having navigated now four waves of this - and this going to be our fifth one by our count - we've lost a lot of staff and people have been working all kinds of hours and redeployed situations," said Hawryluck, a critical care doctor in Toronto.

COVID-19: Ontario likely to see 'hardest wave' of pandemic as Omicron cases surge

"(It) has us, frankly, very concerned over whether or not we're going to be able to provide the level of help that we want to."

Canadian health-care workers have been on the front lines throughout the pandemic, dealing with four waves of COVID-19 patients flowing through the hospital system.

At several points in the pandemic, provinces have had to send in requests to the federal government for help with hospital staffing. Most recently, Manitoba put in a formal request for additional intensive care unit (ICU) staff to help alleviate its stretched-out system.

This relentless trend has led to industry-wide burnout, exhaustion and staff shortages. According to Statistics Canada, earlier this year nearly one in five job vacancies in Canada was in health care and social assistance; those sectors experienced the largest losses year over year compared to all other sectors.

"Our health-care workers are exhausted and they're working under very challenging circumstances right now, even before Omicron," said Dr. Tasleem Nimjee, an emergency physician in Toronto.

"That's a challenging environment to work in, and now you're layering this on top of that."

Governments have faced pressure throughout the pandemic to invest more money into health care and to come up with detailed plans that include how to recruit, train and retain workers to replace those who have left.

In November in Ontario, the government announced as part of its fall economic statement that it's investing $342 million to add and upgrade the skills of more than 5,000 registered nurses and registered practical nurses and 8,000 personal support workers.

Another $57.6 million will go toward hiring 225 more nurse practitioners in long-term care, starting next year.

In Manitoba, the government announced Wednesday it's investing $19.5 million to add 259 nurse training seats at five post-secondary institutions across the province as part of its multi-year plan to add roughly 400 seats over the next few years.

There are more than 800 nursing seats currently offered at six publicly funded post-secondary institutions across the province, officials said Wednesday.

With Omicron spreading in Canada, governments must make further investments to boost hospital capacity in anticipation of another surge, said Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions.

"The shortage of health-care professionals is at a crisis stage, and that's why doctors, specialists and surgeons, are advocating to hire more nurses and put more funding to help (ease) these (surgery) wait times," she said.

"What we need is a strong national strategy with targeted funding to retain and recruit nurses, health-care workers and really bring stability in our workforce."

In its throne speech last month, the federal government promised to help improve health-care systems and alleviate surgery backlogs.

Health Minister Jean-Ives Duclos acknowledged on Nov. 30 that there is "a lot of work to do."

"Our understanding is that those delays are being reduced slowly because the pandemic is relatively under greater control than it was a few months ago," he said. "We know one of the priorities is exactly that - to handle backlogs in surgeries."

As Omicron spreads in Canada, officials have been introducing measures to slow its spread. The Public Health Agency of Canada projected if Omicron becomes the dominant strain of the virus in the country, cases will skyrocket by the new year.

Ontario, which is among the leaders in Canada's COVID-19 resurgence, logged 2,421 new cases on Thursday. However, patients with COVID-19 in ICUs have remained relatively stable, but are overall on a slow rise.

COVID-19: Ontario ICU patients could exceed 600 if additional measures aren't taken

Provincial health experts projected Thursday that unless community contacts are significantly reduced, the province's ICU capacity could be severely strained by early January.

As we come to learn more about the variant, thinking about an Omicron-led surge is inducing anxiety, said Silas.

"When you work in an intensive care atmosphere, and now the whole health-care system is in that intensive care atmosphere where it's go, go, go, you need breaks and they haven't had breaks for 22 months," she said.

"Everyone was looking forward to getting at least some time off, and that looks like it's going to be cancelled for everyone."

For months, it felt like society was starting to get back to somewhat pre-COVID-19 normalcy, Nimjee said, but quickly adjusting to this new reality, especially with the holidays around the corner, is tough.

"It takes a while to almost relax and fall back into that, and then to shift back out of that so quickly ... it's hard," she said.

"But what we have to do it, we got to do it, so that's what we're going to do."

As for Hawryluck, she pleads for Canadians to stay safe during the holidays and to get vaccinated.

"I can't tell you how hard it is to watch somebody struggle to breathe, to watch somebody struggle to breathe even on a ventilator, to not know if they're going to live from day to day, hour to hour sometimes, and to have to convey that news to a family, it is heartbreaking," she said.

"If we as a group of people ... can do things that help prevent us from getting there, even if that prevention is not 100 per cent effective, it's worth it."
- with files from Jamie Mauracher and The Canadian Press

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Burnt-out health-care workers fear Omicron surges in Canadian hospitals | Globalnews.ca

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For Dr. Laura Hawryluck, one of the challenges of working in a strained health-care system is no longer having the time to personally relate to patients. Under constant pressure due to COVID-19 and staff shortages, Hawryluck said hospital workers are forced to become more task-oriented, doing what they must to keep patients alive and losing the time to really understand them.

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Looking for inspiration for your postcard?

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Looking for inspiration for your postcard?

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Read about how the pandemic is affecting small and local businesses

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Many independent business owners in Montreal are frustrated that they remain closed while big box retailers who sell competing items are allowed to stay open

"So those big box stores are selling items ... and we have been told we have to close," DEBra owner Debbie Donelle said.

"Personally, one the things I find really frustrating is that the big box stores are allowed to remain open because they sell a little bit of groceries," said Donelle.

The Retail Council of Canada is trying to work out a deal with the government to get these businesses much-needed help.

"This is why we are negotiating these programs with the government, to help them out with their overhead cost, with their rent, just so they had some support so they can gradually reopen," Marc Fortin, Retail Council of Canada (Quebec) president, told Global News.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Montreal-area business owners anxious to get back to work
Many retailers believe they will not be able to retain or make back the money they have lost.

"They're losing right now sales that they cannot do because they're forced to remain closed," CFIB Quebec vice president. Francois Vincent said.

"Right now, 35 per cent of small and medium businesses in Quebec are closed."

According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, 37 per cent of businesses struggled to pay their monthly rent this month. It is expected to be even higher in May.

"If you do not have revenue but you still to pay your bills, it's difficult right now," Vincent said. "For the month of May, they told us that 55 per cent of business, without any help, it would be difficult for them to pay rent."
READ MORE: Trudeau announces rent relief of 75% for small businesses affected by Coronavirus
Business owners are worried that people won't spend money in their shops because of job losses and the number of people allowed in the store at one time could affect sale numbers.

"A lot of people have lost their jobs, they won't spend a lot, and at the same time, they have to put in health and safety measures," Vincent said.

"They won't be able to have the same amount of costumers in their stores so the consumption will not be the same."

Small businesses say they're ready to open when given the go ahead, but clear guidelines from health and safety, a campaign to get people back into local and small businesses and financial aid will all be key for them to get back on their feet once the economy hits a reset.

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Coronavirus: Montreal small businesses upset they're closed while big box stores remain open - Montreal | Globalnews.ca

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Many independent business owners in Montreal are frustrated that they remain closed while big box retailers who sell competing items are allowed to stay open "So those big box stores are selling items ... and we have been told we have to close," DEBra owner Debbie Donelle said.