Posted on 03/10/2020 6:01:51 PM PDT by MNJohnnie
I'm a doctor and an Infectious Diseases Specialist. I've been at this for more than 20 years seeing sick patients on a daily basis. I have worked in inner city hospitals and in the poorest slums of Africa. HIV-AIDS, Hepatitis,TB, SARS, Measles, Shingles, Whooping cough, Diphtheria...there is little I haven't been exposed to in my profession. And with notable exception of SARS, very little has left me feeling vulnerable, overwhelmed or downright scared.
I am not scared of Covid-19. I am concerned about the implications of a novel infectious agent that has spread the world over and continues to find new footholds in different soil. I am rightly concerned for the welfare of those who are elderly, in frail health or disenfranchised who stand to suffer mostly, and disproportionately, at the hands of this new scourge. But I am not scared of Covid-19.
What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic, stockpiling obscene quantities of anything that could fill a bomb shelter adequately in a post-apocalyptic world. I am scared of the N95 masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent care clinics where they are actually needed for front line healthcare providers and instead are being donned in airports, malls, and coffee lounges, perpetuating even more fear and suspicion of others. I am scared that our hospitals will be overwhelmed with anyone who thinks they " probably don't have it but may as well get checked out no matter what because you just never know..." and those with heart failure, emphysema, pneumonia and strokes will pay the price for overfilled ER waiting rooms with only so many doctors and nurses to assess.
I am scared that travel restrictions will become so far reaching that weddings will be canceled, graduations missed and family reunions will not materialize. And well, even that big party called the Olympic Games...that could be kyboshed too. Can you even imagine?
I'm scared those same epidemic fears will limit trade, harm partnerships in multiple sectors, business and otherwise and ultimately culminate in a global recession.
But mostly, I'm scared about what message we are telling our kids when faced with a threat. Instead of reason, rationality, openmindedness and altruism, we are telling them to panic, be fearful, suspicious, reactionary and self-interested.
Covid-19 is nowhere near over. It will be coming to a city, a hospital, a friend, even a family member near you at some point. Expect it. Stop waiting to be surprised further. The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and "fight for yourself above all else" attitude could prove disastrous.
I implore you all. Temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty with education. We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about health hygiene and limiting the spread of innumerable transmissible diseases in our society. Let's meet this challenge together in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge as opposed to conjecture, speculation and catastrophizing.
Facts not fear. Clean hands. Open hearts. Our children will thank us for it.
#washurhands #geturflushot #respect #patiencenotpanic
Seems to me he’s talking about the Media
Italy has effectively shut down. The entire country. Yes, it would have made the news no matter who the president was
Some people thrive on being scared of everything. it gives a diversion in their hum-durm lives. My mother-in-law, Brother-in-law an SIL all thrived on being scared.
Alar, Radon,escaped criminals a 1000 miles away, any imaginary sickness, gave them all a thrill to be frightened. Hypochondriacs all.
Matt who?
Good catch.
Are you planning on increasing your daily output?
Stop buying Colon Blow.
I was characterizing him as a lib, based on what he wrote.
Subsequent to that, I looked him up online and he volunteers with two lib orgs.
why does OJ always get two cases of everything at COSTCO
He always loses 1 case.
David Spade
We will see.
Bump
Calm the F down!
PFL
“.....it wouldn’t even make the news.”
Not sure on that. The liberals have been scaring the populous to death for years with every lie they can provide to give themselves the opportunity to ride in on the white horse and save the day. Even the way they are presenting this fabrication is that Trump- is doing nothing and they can fix it. Of course, that’s back to back lies, but it accomplishes the goal of scaring the public (voters) into thinking Trump is a failure so they will vote for whatever piece of $hit they nominate for November, whether that are qualified or even have enough intelligence to do the job. And it is needed to get any one of them elected because they haven’t any other way.
rwood
“Panic, fear Reaction, self-interest. All foundations of liberalism & the democrat party.” Bears repeating.
Dang.
I deleted Drudge from my favorites months ago.
I disagree. If 0bama or Hitlery were in charge, the media would give us non-stop Wuhan Flu updates, especially all the "great good" being done by the government in our time of panic-demic problems. With a double or triple dose of how the government is helping us, and how we need to have more "good liberals" in there to make sure that the government continues to help us out.
In some ways, it would be a return to the 1930s when Daddy FDR implemented more and more and more government programs to get us out of the Depression. Of course, we all know that these programs did nothing more than prolong the Depression. If it wasn't for Tojo and the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, this country would have stayed mired in a gloomy economy for who knows how many more years.
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