Posted on 04/28/2020 11:54:22 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Dr. Daniel G. Murphy is chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at St. Barnabas Hospital in The Bronx. New York City is ground zero for the COVID-19.
So Murphy knows a thing or two about the virus.
Murphy has been in the ER every day for the last few weeks, either supervising or providing direct care, the doctor wrote in a piece for The New York Post. “I contracted a COVID-19 infection very early in the outbreak, as did two of my daughters, one of whom is a nurse. We are all well, thank God.”
Murphy said the virus has been the worst health care disaster in his 30-year career, but now, he said, “the lasting impact is what worries me the most. And it’s why I now believe we should end the lockdown and rapidly get back to work.”
It is precisely what I have witnessed that now tells me that it’s time to ease the lockdown. Here’s why.
First, the wave has crested. At 1 p.m. April 7, the COVID-19 arrivals slowed down. It was a discrete, noticeable event. Stretchers became available by 5 p.m., and the number of arriving COVID-19 patients dropped below the number discharged, transferred or deceased.
This was striking, because the community I serve is poor. Some are homeless. Most work in “essential,” low-paying jobs, where distancing isn’t easy. Nevertheless, the wave passed over us, peaked and subsided. The way this transpired tells me the ebb and flow had more to do with the natural course of the outbreak than it did with the lockdown.
Second, I worry about non-coronavirus care. While the inpatient units remain busy with sick COVID-19 patients, our ER has been quiet for more than a week. We usually average 240 patients a day. For the last week, we averaged fewer than 100. That means our patients in this diverse, low-income community are afraid to come to the ER for non-COVID care.
Gotham-wide, the number of 911 ambulance runs declined to 3,320 on April 18, down from a peak of 6,527 on March 30, according to New York Fire Department data. The current nadir is significantly below the average.
Murphy said “our pediatric volume in the ER has practically disappeared,” and “visits to primary-care pediatricians are also down, with vaccine schedules falling behind. Everyone seems to be avoiding the health system — an important and unfortunate consequence of the stay-at-home strategy.”
“Third, inordinate fear misguides the public response. While COVID-19 is serious, fear of it is being over-amplified. The public needs to understand that the vast majority of infected people do quite well.”
Finally, COVID-19 is more prevalent than we think. Many New Yorkers already have the COVID-19 infection, whether they are aware of it or not. As of today, over 43 percent of those tested are positive in The Bronx. We are developing a significant degree of natural herd immunity. Distancing works, but I am skeptical that it is playing as predominant a role as many think.
A recent antibody study in New York City found that 1 in 5 (21.2%) of residents have already been infected with the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last week. With 8.5 million people in New York City, that means more than 1.8 residents in New York City may have had the virus.
The study tested 3,000 New York residents across the state — at grocery and big-box stores — for antibodies. “What we found so far is that the statewide number is 13.9% tested positive for having the antibodies,” Cuomo said. “What does it mean? They were infected three weeks ago and four weeks ago and five weeks ago or six weeks ago,” Cuomo said. “They have the virus and they developed the antibodies and they are recovered.”
“What you do in a place with 21% is very different,” he said. “The facts dictate the actions.”
Murphy concludes his piece by saying:
More testing will better establish the numbers among those with mild illnesses and no symptoms. My professional experience tells me the number of infected people will be high. Testing is important work, but it should happen in parallel to the immediate resuscitation of the economy and getting people back to work.
At present, the testing is imperfect. We can’t wait months. We must protect the vulnerable and mitigate without destroying the economy.
Standing up to this virus can’t be the job of essential workers only. We’ve been strong, but we’re tired, and we need the rest of you to help us. By getting back to work.
As of February 29th, Fauci was saying...don't worry about it...go on as usual.
“I contracted a COVID-19 infection very early in the outbreak, as did two of my daughters, one of whom is a nurse. We are all well, thank God.”
.....another example that occasionally leaks out, that THIS ISN’T THAT BIG A DEAL.
“That means our patients in this diverse, low-income community are afraid to come to the ER for non-COVID care.”
EXACTLY!
I’m still in the midst of this with my mother (never mind my own on-going agonies undiagnosed). She was VERY sick the other week and it was all anxiety about if we should go to an ER. Now, she is still having troubles, but I’m more worried about long-term chronic problems, which may be very serious but are very disruptive. We can’t even see the regular doctor in a normal fashion because of this hysteria.
We call frequenting the ER for the very little thing, as taking a “ field trip “
Wearing masks is symbolic of slavery. We bridle horses, to make them submissive, or muzzle animals.
A huge segment of poor people are just trash. Yes, they most certainly do use the emergency rooms and ambulances for non emergencies. Absolutely. They don't give a f*** that other people have to pay their bills, and they simply do not care what their medical care costs.
They are frivolous and stupid, and will go to the emergency room at the drop of a hat. If their child has a runny nose, off to the emergency room. If they have a headache, off to the emergency room.
They all need to be horsewhipped every time they show up at the emergency room with a non emergency.
Not sure he mentioned it but many of his patients do not have health insurance to help pay the cost of visits to general practitoner doctors or to specialists at their respective offices. Being unable to pay for routine visits to the doctor to treat their chronic health conditions, such as type II diabetes, they wait and wait until they are so sick they must seek care. Then, off to the ER they go. They know hospitals must treat them to at least a minimum standard even though the hospital knows they can’t pay the cost.
Dumbest thing i've read all week. I hope you are engaging in satire.
I think in the end, opening back up will have different infection rates based on where you live.
In a rural setting, you will see as you go back to normal an increase in cases but it really won’t be a problem. For suburbs, these areas will also not see horrendous spikes, this will be contingent upon how much use of mass transit in the population. More mass transit. The more infections. Cities will probably have to open and then isolate in maybe 6 weeks on 6 weeks isolate until the wave passes. This is what China is seeing for its cities.
Trump needs him and Dr Zelenko. Fauci is not to be trusted
I agree. Maybe even Dr. Oz. I’ve never been a big Dr. Oz fan but he’s been on Hannity’s radio show several times. He sounds like a straight shooter when it comes to covid-19.
Excellent point.
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