Open Letter to the world from an infectious disease specialist about Covid-19

https://www.facebook.com/abdu.sharkawy?__tn__=%2CdCH-R-R&eid=ARDIStwGP8KCBe-SzZ8wj1mdvQ2JWwKV6WYIJ3Z | 03-05 | Abdu Sharkawy

[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

[lodi90]

Unsuprisingly, POS Drudge has temporarily suspended his virus hoaxing to pump Biden’s primary wins.

[Redwood71]

“.....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.

The writer of this article is Dr Kiran Oswal, a viral fever specialist who runs a clinic in Vijayapura, Karnataka, India.

rwood

[Trump Girl Kit Cat]

Drudge WHO???? Liberty Daily same format and conservative!!!

[eastexsteve]

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.

So, you are scared of Covid 19. I don't blame you. All those other diseases you mention have a known treatment, vaccine, or cure. But, not this one. You should be scared, especially since this bug appears to come in both a mild and aggressive strain. That means it has mutated at least once, and odds are it's not through yet. Let's look at the numbers. A 6 percent mortality rate in the US so far. Definitely more dangerous than the average flu bug. Oh, I know. There aren't that many cases. But, let's see where it's going. Thirty-two people dead to date in the US. That's not many. But, just a week ago, that count was only up to 14. That's more than double in a week. They are talking about a year before we see a vaccine or treatment. So, care to extrapolate where this might be in a year? How about just 3 months? At the current rate, we are talking over 127,000 deaths in 3 months. Yeah, you better be scared. Or else, go live in an underground bunker for the next year.

Oh, I forgot. The govt will protect you. Well, everything will be OK then. Nevermind.

[abigkahuna]

Since when are masks that are sold on the retail market to the general public are soley designated to hospitals. Weren’t they supposed to have an adeqaute stockpile if they followed the federal pandemic guidelines for the last 15 years? This was the CDC and HHS rule for hospitals that they signed up on promising to have an adequate stockpile in case of a pandemic. Did they fail to do so? Were they sold out the back door? I need answers to these questions.

[DannyTN]

"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."

"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?"

He cares for the elderly, but he's not willing to delay a wedding to help prevent spread and the elderly getting it. And heaven forbid that the Olympics get canceled. "Can you even imagine?"

[Arones]

It only took 17 posts for someone to critically read the article and react as a conservative would.

Kudos.

[lodi90]

I only check drudge these days to confirm my low opinion of him. He never disappoints.

[null and void]

Totally agree. If a libtard were in office like Obama or Hillary it wouldn’t even make the news.

Obama waited until a thousand Americans were dead of swine flu before declaring an emergency. He also imported active Ebola cases into the heartland, so off hand, I'd say you are 100% correct!

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

[Vermont Lt]

The stock of gloves and masks in the Emergency Prep room—enough for 30 days—must be rotated. They have expiration dates.

If the logistics folks were not on top of this, or they were trying to save a dime they went through the stuff during flu season. Then they were caught short.

Now they can’t get them.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The GREAT think about COVID-19 is the San Francisco Bay Area roads have half the normal traffic. Freeways are running smoothly and at 70 mph at rush hour. Secondary arterial roads are running smoothly at 35 - 45 mph and no miles long tie-ups. The nearby parks and trails around the Bay are at 1/3 to 1/2 their normal visitor load.

Plus, with so few people outside, it’s easy to maintain your distance from everybody.

I was hiking the Charleston Slough again yesterday afternoon and it had few visitors. I just got back from hiking the Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto and the parking lot was nearly full whereas it’s always overflow at 5 PM on a warm night.

This is fantastic!

[LilFarmer]

“Accept the virus”.

It’s only your parent’s lives your risking. They are old anyway. Your children will thank you.

[abigkahuna]

The stock of gloves and masks in the Emergency Prep room—enough for 30 days—must be rotated. They have expiration dates.

If the logistics folks were not on top of this, or they were trying to save a dime they went through the stuff during flu season. Then they were caught short.

Now they can’t get them.

---

Right...now they can’t get them. Did they have foresight in January when the rest of us began getting some masks? I got a mask for my wife and myself. Reusable with about 18 filters for each of us. Not a big stock pile and got it off of amazon.

I also have hand sewn a couple of masks out of cotton for my wife and I to use also. I am using a felt insert for a filter. Using felt because it is non-woven. That can come out and the mask slipped into the oven for a while at say 180 to kill any viruses. BTW, this can also be done with N-95 masks. It will not degrade the integrity of the mask. How many times can this be done? For my hand woven, until it burns up I suppose...for a manufactured N-95? At least once.

[Magic Fingers]

“If a libtard were in office like Obama or Hillary it wouldn’t even make the news .”

China forcibly quarantining millions of people would make the news no matter who’s in office.

[wgmalabama]

IDK if this virus is super bad or a nothing. I do know that China would not react that way over nothing. China had nothing to gain to push their economy into negative growth for the year or two. They don’t care about the individual person.

Italy is having to choose who lives or dies. Again, I don’t understand what is occurring. My gut reaction tells me that China knows this virus can turn mean. I think they have studied this for 10 years or so in labs and they don’t know what will happen. They have published enough papers in the past to know they have an idea. I have an educated guess. But it’s still a guess

I don’t mind being inconvenienced. I have to deal with it on every commute to work. Will the cell phone obsession cause another 30-60 minutes issue a day in traffic because of another distracted driver. I don’t want to be on a respirator only to be bumped off for someone who has better odds.

WTF is happening. But inconvenience is not my biggest bitch.

I really do hope it’s all hype. Then I will chuckle with understanding that next time it might be real. Inconvenience is no big deal.

[Whatever Works]

Not toilet paper......shhhhhh.....come closer....... It’s bacon.....shhhhhhh..... Don’t tell anyone else...... But stockpile bacon..... Ok, don’t say you weren’t warned.

I would not want to face the apocalypse without bacon.

[hoosiermama]

Got a live link?

[the OlLine Rebel]

Agreed.

Always be cautious, but paranoid?

And BTW, I am afflicted with many undiagnosed problems and as a result, increasingly paranoid that any new symptom is a sign of something systemic and grave.

But this virus does not really concern me.

Remember that the biggest problem here is that it is new to researchers, so of course they approach carefully at first, but still, so far the #s aren’t really impressive. It’s been a solid 2 months. While it propagates, I’m not sure it has much of death toll so not real concerned.

[aquila48]

Ching, Ching, Ching!

We have a winner!