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Look we have it: Sheltering in place is a tremendous burden. If you are lucky, you will go crazy. The less fortunate have lost a job or are struggling with mental illness. But governments do not take this strategy lightly: the best way to prevent hospitals from overwhelming Covid-19 patients is to maintain social distance. Staying at home is saving lives.
However, some state officials, such as Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, are quick to reopen their states, prompting reprimand from even the president and business owners who are choosing not to participate. “The first and biggest mistake we can make is to end physical distancing too soon,” says Dr. Seema Yasmin, director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative. “If we rush to reopen, it could lead to the uncontrolled spread of the virus again.”
To be clear, the idea is not to stop the spread of the virus entirely, that might have been possible in the early stages of the pandemic, by quarantining those exposed to the virus to prevent the pathogen from spreading worldwide. But at this point, our only hope is to flatten the curve or slow down the rate of new cases. This will prevent US hospitals. USA Overflow of patients with Covid-19.
Speaking of hospitals, according to Yasmin, the second big mistake we can make is not preparing them for another wave of patients. For example, more people died from the second and third waves of the 1918 pandemic flu than the first wave. “Since another wave of Covid-19 is likely, we need to make sure that hospitals have three things,” says Yasmin. They need proven drugs to treat the virus, they need enough protective gear for doctors and nurses, and they need enough beds and fans.
We also need many more diagnostic tests, she says. Currently in the US USA We are evaluating about 150,000 people per day, well below the 500,000 to 700,000 daily tests that Yasmin says we need to monitor. More evidence means that we can better track the spread of the disease through contact tracking. “It is an old school public health technique, but let me tell you that contact tracing has been the cornerstone of all infectious disease epidemic investigations,” says Yasmin.
For more information on the other major mistakes to avoid in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, take a look at our video above with Yasmin.
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