I get it but for the average Joe blow who drives a bus they can’t just stop working. There is no compensation. You can do that. Most can’t. It is really going to hurt many middle class people unless they get their salary.
Went to Pho place. I went at 530 so no line and got food to go. I tend to stay home a lot anyway. I may not have a choice in April as I have to take care of my 93 year old aunt. > On 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 > > <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> > YOUNG AND UNAFRAID OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC? GOOD FOR YOU. NOW STOP > KILLING PEOPLE | OPINION > By A Doctor in Western Europe On 3/11/20 at 2:29 PM EDT > 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. > > > >
