The Coming Storm

(Clouds over New York City. Photo courtesy C. Lehr)

The COVID-19 pandemic is not over. If that sounds like news, it is. I am not fooled by the hundreds of people walking around my town without masks, nor by the now neglected practice of physical distancing. I am not fooled by the reassurances from Nursing Home directors and hospital administrators who say the virus is controlled, and I am not listening to government officials from any nation who neglect to keep us informed of a possible increase in numbers of deaths.

This is not to say I am not pleased. I am relieved the pandemic has not caused as many deaths as originally predicted. I am delighted that most of the people I know who are over the age of sixty, or those with past medical histories such as heart disease and diabetes are choosing to wait and see, rather than attend public gatherings and eat in restaurants. 

I am glad that some health care personnel have taken responsibility for their own safety and well-being, rather than trust all decisions to an all too often incompetent, hierarchal leadership with different agendas. But I am sad that according to at least one recent report, more than 600 health care workers in the United States have already died from SARS-CoV-21

The US Centers for Disease Control says that in California, where I reside, about 6% of all hospital beds are occupied by patients with COVID-19. Overall, patients with and without COVID-19 occupy only 64% of ICU beds2. This leaves our hospitals with a small safety margin in case a second wave strikes in the next weeks.

SARS-CoV-2 is transmissible by individuals who are ill, presymptomatic, or totally without signs of disease. Viral load depends on frequency, duration, and type of exposure (droplets, respirable aerosols, and fomites). Recent events and the opening of our economies create opportunities for infection. If many medical scientists and public health officials advocate physical distancing and mask-wearing, it is because their concerns for public safety are free from most of the constraints placed on politicians, economists, and social policy-makers responsible for the public good.

As health care professionals, we have a responsibility to do no harm. However, to advocate physical distancing adversely affects the economy. To advocate social isolation adversely affects mental health and puts a strain on family dynamics. To advocate precautionary measures in the workplace and not follow our own advice outside makes us hypocrites.

References

1. https://khn.org/news/exclusive-investigation-nearly-600-and-counting-us-health-workers-have-died-of-covid-19/
2. https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/covid19/report-patient-impact.html

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