https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/11/media-fueling-coronavirus-panic-under-fire/?fbclid=IwAR1RzTr7T2mVR8iyTf2aLbWBqRXNZWNhrdyx5ftt3QJyFacMWrIvU_M8COE On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 7:19 PM Dick Mays [email protected] [FairfieldLife] <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > > https://www.newsweek.com/young-unafraid-coronavirus-pandemic-good-you-now-stop-killing-people-opinion-1491797?amp=1&fbclid=IwAR02ASBUmIDXMvtRFN5aOAlCVTd1V5f_EkTD_leIqX5mQpbbF-bJd8_gliE > OPINION <https://www.newsweek.com/opinion> > > I'm a doctor in a major hospital in Western Europe. Watching you Americans > <https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-fauci-many-millions-response-us-mitigation-1491780> > (and > you, Brits) in these still-early days of the coronavirus pandemic is like > watching a familiar horror movie, where the protagonists, yet again, split > into pairs or decide to take a tour of a dark basement. > > The real-life versions of this behavior are pretending this is just a flu; > keeping schools open; following through with your holiday travel plans, and > going into the office daily. This is what we did in Italy. We were so > complacent that even when people with coronavirus symptoms started turning > up, we wrote each off as a nasty case of the flu. We kept the economy > going, pointed fingers at China and urged tourists to keep traveling. And > the majority of us told ourselves and each other: this isn't so bad. We're > young, we're fit, we'll be fine even if we catch it. > > Fast-forward two months, and we are drowning. Statistically > speaking—judging by the curve in China—we are not even at the peak yet, but > our fatality rate is at over 6 percent, double the known global average. > > Put aside statistics. Here is how it looks in practice. Most of my > childhood friends are now doctors working in north Italy. In Milan, in > Bergamo, in Padua, they are having to choose between intubating a > 40-year-old with two kids, a 40-year old who is fit and healthy with no > co-morbidities, and a 60-year-old with high blood pressure, because they > don't have enough beds. In the hallway, meanwhile, there are another 15 > people waiting who are already hardly breathing and need oxygen. > > The army is trying to bring some of them to other regions with helicopters > but it's not enough: the flow is just too much, too many people are getting > sick at the same time. > > We are still awaiting the peak of the epidemic in Europe: probably early > April for Italy, mid-April for Germany and Switzerland, somewhere around > that time for the UK. In the U.S., the infection has only just begun. > > But until we're past the peak, the only solution is to impose social > restrictions. > > And if your government is hesitating, these restrictions are up to you. > Stay put. Do not travel. Cancel that family reunion, the promotion party > and the big night out. This really sucks, but these are special times. > Don't take risks. Do not go to places where you are more than 20 people in > the same room. It's not safe and it's not worth it. > > But why the urgency, if most people survive? > > Here's why: Fatality is the wrong yardstick. Catching the virus can mess > up your life in many, many more ways than just straight-up killing you. "We > are all young"—okay. "Even if we get the bug, we will survive"—fantastic. > How about needing four months of physical therapy before you even feel > human again. Or getting scar tissue in your lungs and having your activity > level restricted for the rest of your life. Not to mention having every > chance of catching another bug in hospital, while you're being treated or > waiting to get checked with an immune system distracted even by the false > alarm of an ordinary flu. No travel for leisure or business is worth this > risk. > > Now, odds are, you might catch coronavirus and might not even get > symptoms. Great. Good for you. Very bad for everyone else, from your own > grandparents to the random older person who got on the subway train a stop > or two after you got off. You're fine, you're barely even sneezing or > coughing, but you're walking around and you kill a couple of old ladies > without even knowing it. Is that fair? You tell me. > > My personal as well as professional view: we all have a duty to stay put, > except for very special reasons, like, you go to work because you work in > healthcare, or you have to save a life and bring someone to hospital, or go > out to shop for food so you can survive. But when we get to this stage of a > pandemic, it's really important not to spread the bug. The only thing that > helps is social restriction. Ideally, the government should issue that > instruction and provide a financial fallback—compensate business owners, > ease the financial load on everyone as much as possible and reduce the > incentive of risking your life or the lives of others just to make ends > meet. But if your government or company is slow on the uptake, don't be > that person. Take responsibility. For all but essential movement, restrict > yourself. > > This is epidemiology 101. It really sucks. It is extreme—but luckily, we > don't have pandemics of this violence every year. So sit it out. Stay put.. > Don't travel. It is absolutely not worth it. > > It's the civic and moral duty of every person, everywhere, to take part in > the global effort to reduce this threat to humanity. To postpone any > movement or travel that are not vitally essential, and to spread the > disease as little as possible. Have your fun in June, July and August when > this—hopefully—is over. Stay safe. Good luck. > > *The author is a senior doctor in a major European hospital. She asked to > remain anonymous because she has not been authorized to speak to the press.* > > > -- *Brianna Ho Delott, MBA, BBA-PSYC* *Certified Spiritual Counselor* *Attachment, Relational & Developmental Trauma-Informed641-233-7688 (cell/text)* *www.BriannaHoDelott.com <http://www.briannahodelott.com/>*
