Can you imagine calling “911” if you are having an emergency at home and being told that you may have to wait because an ambulance is not available?
That is today’s reality.
Yesterday we had more covid deaths in the US than on any previous single day with over 3000.
MORE THAN THE WHOLE COUNTRY OF JAPAN HAS HAD THE ENTIRE FREAKING PANDEMIC!!!!!
Hospitals in many states are filled to capacity with 10% of hospital beds nationally filled with Covid-19 patients. Most ICUs are maxed out.
Elective surgery and office visits are now being curtailed once again. And just as an FYI, even some types of cancer surgery, like thyroid cancer for example, is considered “elective” and is being postponed.
The latest CDC prediction is that by Christmas Day, we will have as many as 330,000 deaths in the US, numbers which used to be predicted for well into 2021.
Despite that, we still have people not believing that Covid-19 even exists. Claiming ridiculously that there is no evidence that masks work. That they are unhealthy… Patients still come in barely wearing masks and behaving as if nothing was going on. Most of them have actually put on weight during this pandemic rather than having taken advantage of some downtime and trying to improve their health.
We have some hope with the soon to be released vaccines, but barely half of Americans are willing to even take them. Another conspiracy! Yet they are perfectly happy to pop an antacid which worsens their gut immune function, increasing their risk for contracting Covid or take an aspirin to make up for their poor health ”just in case”, despite the risk of side effects being 100x more than what has been seen in the vaccine trials.
People congregating at places like restaurants, bars, cafes, houses of worship and hotels account for 80% of Covid transmission yet the Whitehouse is planning Christmas parties with no mask mandates.A few last superspreader events to leave us with.
I understand “Covid Fatigue”. As exposed as I am however, there are many who deal with Covid patients day in and day out, continuously. Even emergency staff are experiencing it. I was in the Emergency Room a few days ago and overheard some nurses discussing a few recent “codes” and attempted resuscitations which were performed on patients, one of whom was rapid-covid test positive. These days, anyone walking in the door is assumed to have covid until proven otherwise. Although standard pre-covid PPE protocols were followed with surgical masks, by Covid standards, these healthcare providers were woefully underprotected. It takes so much effort to continuously put on and take off all the protective gear. There is simply not enough time in some situations. When you need to pound on a chest ASAP, taking 2 minutes to put on all the stuff is just too much time. Selfless sacrifice, worsened by fatigue and maybe even a little indifference and fatalism.
As dire as things seem, we can STILL stem the tide and save lives but, once again, it takes effort. Anything worth anything takes effort. It takes effort to get off the couch and go for a walk or a run. It takes effort to cook food at home rather than get takeout or throw a packaged, processed meal into the microwave.
It also takes effort to protect yourself and all those around you.
Vaccines will help but all the other means of protection MUST be continued, even if you have had Covid or get the vaccine. We are still learning about how much protection thanks will provide on a societal scale as well as for how long. If previous coronavirus infections are any indication, the protection won’t be for long. That doesn’t mean we should not get vaccinated. We just may need periodic boosters. More to come on vaccine questions which are swirling.
WEAR A MASK. They really, really, really do help.
DISTANCE.
WASH YOUR HANDS.
DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE.
PROTECT YOUR EYES.
VENTILATE.
VACCINATE.
GET HEALTHY. Yes it takes effort but only YOU can help yourself. No doctor or guru can do it for you.
Stay safe and be well.
AC