To make sense of "York County just went to yellow"
What do the colors mean?
Posted on 05/26/2020 11:53:39 AM PDT by lightman
In a recent op-ed, Steve Pandelidis advocated for the so-called “herd immunity” approach to the coronavirus pandemic. His piece was very poorly timed as he cited Sweden as a success story. He should know that Sweden followed his “herd immunity” approach and had the most COVID-19 deaths per capita in Europe last week. He should also know that Sweden's case fatality rate is far higher than most other countries.
Dr. Pandelidis is not an expert on viruses or pandemics. So it’s alarming that he is so blasé in his article advocating for herd immunity. Experts around the globe agree that the herd immunity method results in many more deaths than other more measured approaches. The method Dr. Pandelitis is pushing is actually downright cruel because it ultimately sacrifices many more lives than necessary, just to hasten reopening of the economy. It essentially puts a price on our lives. It’s also worth noting that, by increasing the number of infections, his approach actually delays the restart of the economy.
The York community is waiting for WellSpan's official rebuttal to Dr. Pandelidis's irresponsible op-ed. In the absence of their rebuttal, I'll point out the elephant in the (emergency) room: WellSpan’s York Hospital emergency department was already overwhelmed before the pandemic. They were so overwhelmed that distracted and overworked employees in that understaffed facility allowed two patients to die after those patients sat in a hallway for hours. Remember that? It prompted a state investigation. That was before we'd even heard of the coronavirus.
More: OP-ED: Listen to the experts, not WellSpan's Dr. Pandelidis
More: York DA: Not citing open businesses a legal issue, not a political one
More: Crying Wolf: Protesters lambaste governor's lockdown orders
More: Official: If Round the Clock Diners are open, 'they are operating without a license'
More: Rep. Jones: State health officials are 'bureaucrats' not 'experts'
The community was justifiably outraged when those two people died of neglect at the hospital that was supposed to help them. And now, WellSpan's rogue employee Pandelidis is suggesting a path that could put even more people in the same position.
Or is he not a rogue employee? Did he have WellSpan's blessing to write this op-ed Does WellSpan agree with herd immunity, even though it would mean their facilities could be overrun and more Yorkers could die? We don't know, because WellSpan's leadership is silent.
I can understand why they don't want to touch this with a 6-foot pole even with their masks on. Because any rebuttal will mean they'll have to admit they're grossly unprepared.
If their own track record isn't enough, a recent Harvard/Pro-Publica study showed that York County was the least prepared of any county in the nation in terms of the number of ICU beds.
Dr. Pandelitis is heralding a method that could potentially force doctors to choose which York countians will be left in the hallways to die. It’s happened in other countries that are ahead of us on the time-curve.
Did Dr. Pandelitis clear his op-ed with WellSpan's thousands of other employees, given that he is advocating a course of action that could put them at even greater risk of contracting this virus?
If Wellspan does stand behind Dr. Pandelitis and support his herd immunity approach, how many employees and patients is WellSpan willing to sacrifice?
Didn’t Dr. Pandelitis think of the doctors and nurses who would be responsible for taking care of the deluge of patients that could result from the reckless approach he promotes?
I doubt he asked the heroes on the front lines what they thought. Because studies have shown that the overwhelming majority of Americans believes in a measured approach (instead of the radical approach of herd immunity). Most people in the U.S. say it’s too soon to open safely. Only weeks ago, a poll by the Economist showed that 81% of Americans think we’re not ready to re-open. Most people across the country realize that prioritizing the health of citizens and prioritizing the speedy re-opening of the economy are not mutually exclusive. By waiting until it’s safe, we save lives and ultimately restart the economy more quickly and in a sustainable way.
Many of us in York are cavalierly embracing herd immunity without thinking it through or checking credible sources. An article in the Atlantic Monthly put the situation in the following stark terms: One method to combat coronavirus is to allow it to “burn through the world and leave behind enough immune survivors that it eventually struggles to find viable hosts. This ‘herd immunity’ scenario would be quick, and thus tempting. But it would also come at a terrible cost: SARS-CoV-2 (covid-19) is more transmissible and fatal than the flu, and it would likely leave behind many millions of corpses and a trail of devastated health systems. The United Kingdom initially seemed to consider this herd-immunity strategy, before backtracking when models revealed the dire consequences. The U.S. now seems to be considering it too.”
As the Atlantic article points out, in January 2020 in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed for herd immunity. But a month or so later, he contracted COVID-19. After managing to survive it, he suddenly changed his tune to stay at home and social distance.
Dr. Pandelitis hasn’t learned the lesson Boris Johnson did. Dr. Pandelitis fails to acknowledge that, if enough of our 800 York County cases wander around York County unabated, our number of cases will very likely increase exponentially. Remember: People with zero symptoms can and do carry the virus. So without widespread antibody testing, it’s difficult to open safely.
Dr. Pandelitis does not consider the importance of compassion and empathy in trying to control this pandemic.
We should be concerned about those who suffer the most — the elderly, the disabled, the poor, those who have medical conditions that make them vulnerable and those living in crowded conditions.
Dr. Pandelitis lives the life of a very privileged person. He fails to acknowledge that an uncontrolled coronavirus in relatively rural York County (resulting from going to green too quickly) may lead to many more cases and deaths.
We unfortunately currently live in a society of cognitive dissonance where individual freedoms are pushed at all costs, including the health of other individuals and the health of the entire community.
Individual freedoms are very important. What some of us fail to recognize is that we also need to protect the freedom of other individuals to not be trembling uncontrollably with fever, to not suffer the loss of limbs, to not be gasping for air as if they’re drowning and to not suffer permanent organ damage or death. Furthermore, in protecting our individual freedom, we must also protect the freedom of individuals to not suffer death of loved ones.
If there’s anything we’ve learned from this world pandemic, it’s that health is not just a private thing. It’s also a public thing. What individuals do affects the group. Denying that fact doesn’t negate the truth of it.
In his op ed, Dr. Pandelidis also leans heavily on a fallacy. He wrongly implies that, because precautions worked, that means precautions weren't necessary. The governor’s decisions have worked so well that now there are people like Dr. Pandelitis embracing the fantasy that it was never going to get as bad as experts warned it would be.
I was shocked to see Dr. Pandelitis say, “If you are young and healthy you are nearly bulletproof to this disease.” Tell that to the families of the children who have died in the last two months from Kawasaki disease. Tell that to the children across the planet who are now suffering from the pediatric COVID syndrome. Tell that to the otherwise healthy 30-50 year olds who are having COVID-related strokes. Dr. Pandelitis’s cavalier attitude is dangerous because the “Dr.” before his name could cause others to believe in his reckless theories.
To those who read his op-ed and feel he is making a measured, reasonable case, I would say this: Dr. Pandelitis may speak with the authoritative voice of a medical professional, but, in advocating for opening too soon, he’s actually being reckless. He is essentially encouraging people who are in denial of the seriousness of COVID-19 to ignore social distancing precautions. And ignoring those precautions will unfortunately lead to more infections and more deaths.
Most experts expect the number of infections to go way back up this summer. I hope they’re wrong. I truly do. But if they’re right, more people will die and there will be more damage to the economy than if we had just continued to move cautiously.
York County just went to yellow. If, by the end of June or July, the number of cases and deaths are lower than they are now, great, he was sort of right. But if the number of cases has increased, then the “opinions” he is offering under the mantle of “physician” are in direct conflict with the Hippocratic oath he swore: “First, do no harm.”
Twenty-two families in York County and over 90,000 families in the U.S. are mourning the loss of loved ones who have died from the coronavirus in the past few months. Instead of advocating for sacrificing the lives of even more York countians and more Americans, Dr. Pandelitis should be encouraging people to follow the guidelines of actual experts. If we do that, we can beat this.
To make sense of "York County just went to yellow"
What do the colors mean?
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I would prefer the slow burn method, opening back up gradually, but since government has proven, once again, that it’s not competent enough to have our backs, open up safely and swiftly. I would recommend starting at 50% occupancy for all businesses and move up from there, depending on the results. Businesses can close back down for deep cleans, if there is an outbreak.
William Swartz III
1063 Wyndam Dr
York PA 17403
Former Green Party candidate
‘Former Green Party candidate’
sounds like he wants us not cower and shrink for the rest of our lives; what the hell is it with these types of people...how’d you like to have this clown in a foxhole with you...?
“...York County was the least prepared of any county in the nation in terms of the number of ICU beds.”
Which is why I’ve gone to PSU-Hershey, since 2017.
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