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Last week, I shared an opinion piece written by Gregory Jasani, an emergency medicine resident at the University of Maryland Medical Center. In it, he issued a stern warning to all those who do not respect social distancing mandates. “Whenever we interact with an infected patient, our own risk of contracting the virus increases,” he writes. “Even if we only suffer from mild symptoms, we will have to isolate ourselves so as not to transmit the virus to our patients. The loss of medical providers at this crucial time is something that our health care system simply cannot afford to do, ”he added.
Other medical personnel on the front line of this pandemic are also beginning to speak out on the need for greater compliance with the directive on social distancing. In a recent investigative report from Sheri Fink, Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent for the New York Times, it tells the story of Dr. Yijiao Fan, 31, resident in oral surgery at the Brooklyn Hospital Center. In good health and with no previous medical problems, he tested positive for the virus. “He had been isolated at home all week and thought he was better, but he started coughing up blood that morning,” she wrote. “He was waiting for a chest scanner.” He had a message for a nation debating how to fight the pandemic. “It was short enough to whisper between the coughing fits: Stay at home.”
At a press conference earlier this week, President Donald Trump announced a one-month extension of federal guidelines to limit public gatherings, calling it a “matter of life and death.”
New York State is the most affected state in the nation and illustrates why staying at home is so important. According to the Times, at the last count, the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 30,000 people in New York. It “is starting to take its toll on those who are most needed to fight it: doctors, nurses and other workers in hospitals and clinics,” according to the New York Times.
As noted in several recent New York Times articles, the city’s health care system is sprawling and disjointed. This makes exact infection rates among medical workers difficult to calculate. Without a doubt, the number is increasing. As Michael Schwirtz of the Times noted, “Coming to work every day, doctors and nurses face confusion and chaos” and “At Columbia University Irving Medical Center in Manhattan … half of the ICU staff had already been sickened by coronavirus. “The caption for Schwirtz’s article reads:” Anxiety is growing among normally impartial health care professionals. “
However, day after day, everywhere in the country, they still show up and do their job.
The Brooklyn Hospital Center is a small, 175-year-old independent institution where Walt Whitman would visit the wounded in the Civil War and where the White House adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was born. A tent is now outside. As Fink points out, trainee doctors, nurses and other staff work indoors, diligently examining the coronaviruses of walk-in patients. The medical students were told to stop coming to the hospital the previous week, but they represented the majority of the doctors assessing the people inside the tent.
“They just take their courage in hand,” said Dr. Sylvie de Souza, president of emergency medicine, to The Times. “They put on their suits and they introduce themselves. This is what they do. Of course, they have anxiety, of course they are afraid, they are human. None of us know where this is taking us. We don’t even know if we could get sick. But none of them has so far failed in their duty, their vocation. “
As Schwirtz reports, “There is also the fear of bringing the disease back to spouses and children. Some medical workers said they slept in different rooms from their partners and even wore surgical masks at home. Others have chosen to be completely isolated from their families, to send spouses and children to live outside of the city, or to move into hotels. “
“In a branch of the Montefiore hospital system in the Bronx,” writes Schwirtz, “the nurses wear their winter coats in an unheated tent set up to sort out patients with symptoms. … This week, the Health and Hospitals Corporation recommended transferring doctors and nurses at higher risk of infection – such as those who are older or with underlying medical conditions – from jobs that interact with patients to more administrative positions. “
Kimberly Marsh, a nurse at Westchester Medical Center outside of New York, because of her age and existing health conditions, was recommended for such a transfer. “She has no plans to leave the fight,” writes Schwirtz.
“We all think we are fucked up,” Marsh told The Times. “I definitely know that I will lose colleagues. There is simply no solution. “
Such acts of courage are not limited to New York. They take place across our nation. If we were talking about first responders fighting an apartment complex fire, would you throw kerosene into it? If it were a unit of the United States military at work to protect the nation and fight to eliminate a threat, would you disseminate their location to the enemy? Of course not.
What about the brave men and women of the medical profession and volunteers who have responded to one of the greatest threats in recent memory to America and the world? How will we honor their service and sacrifice? The tip of the lips is not enough. Social distance, avoiding large public gathering places, respecting space requirements in the workplace and following good personal hygiene practices is what we are asked to do. We all know now what is the right thing to do. So let’s do it all.
Write to Chuck Norris ([email protected]) with your health and fitness questions. Follow Chuck Norris on his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and on Facebook’s “official Chuck Norris page”. He blogs at http: //chucknorrisnews.blogspo
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Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris is one of the most popular actors in the world. He has appeared in over 20 major films. New York Times best-selling author of two books, including the autobiographical book “Against All Odds” of 2004, Norris and his wife, Gena, have a home in Dallas and a ranch near Houston, where they share their time, as well as their 6 two year old twins, Dakota and Dani Lee.
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