Please be responsible

Happy Friday

What is more shocking than the daily “record cases” of Covid infections and death toll across our country, is the incomprehensible response, or lack of it, our leaders are providing and the irresponsible behaviour of our citizens. If anything, our elected officials are fueling the problem with such insane antics as the Georgia Governor suing Atlanta’s mayor who was trying to impose mandatory mask wearing as this would cause additional “hardship for his business owners who are struggling”. Maybe those business owners would not be struggling as much if he imposed some responsible PPE mandates in the first place and encouraged people to be responsible and measured as things opened up. The president threatening school districts with pulling essential funding if they decide not to open to protect students and teachers, is also pretty despicable.

The US is the ONLY developed country not mandating wearing masks on a larger scale and encouraging distancing measures more aggressively and our behavior, case rate and death toll reflects it. Despite being one of the poorest and most densely populated countries, India has similar case numbers but only 1/5th the death rate that we see in the US. What’s wrong with that picture? Even they are mandating masks and protective behavior.

How selfish can we be? People just don’t care about each other. It’s as simple as that. Do what you want for yourself but at least give some modicum of thought and compassion for those around you.

It is a myth that it is unhealthy to breathe with a mask. I wear one all day long, and have done so in the operating room for many hours straight and, although it is not comfortable, there is no issue.There is no disease called “mask lung”! It doesn’t reduce oxygen levels. That’s ridiculous. What less comfortable, a mask or a tube in your windpipe because you’re on a ventilator!

I don’t wish ill will on anyone however it seems that until someone is personally affected by the disease, or any problem for that matter, they will continue to believe that the problem doesn’t exist. We saw it with the leader of Britain, Boris Johnson, who behaved like nothing was going on and downplayed the disease early in the pandemic but changed his opinion dramatically after he contracted Covid and spent a few days in the ICU. The dummy game show host Chuck Woolery who Tweeted about Covid “lies”, quickly changed his tune, apologized and even cancelled his account after his son contracted the disease. Many young people who got sick after some crazy event have gone on social media expressing regret for their behaviour and described their unfortunate side effects from the disease, warning others to respect this virus.

It doesn’t have to be this way. If we all just behaved responsibly and compassionately and were not so bent out of shape about our rights, we will be better able to control the spread of this disease and fewer people will get seriously sick and die. Slowing it down allows us to learn more about the disease so we can treat it faster and better. It gives us time to hopefully develop a vaccine or at least some strategies to save our economy and “normalize” life, whatever form that will be.

Please wear a mask and distance when in public. It DOES help you and certainly helps others.
Please limit exposure to crowds if possible.
Please look out for your neighbors.
Wash your hands and use sanitizer.
Work on getting healthier. Even just being a bit overweight increases your risks of Covid-related complications significantly. We are an unhealthy nation and it’s not a surprise our death toll is so much higher than anywhere else.

We have the the R’s of education and now we have the 3 W’s of Covid:

Wear, Wait & Wash:

Wear a mask or cloth covering over your nose and mouth.
Wait 6 feet apart.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer.

Have a great weekend.

Stay safe and be well.
AC 😎✌️🌱❤🐖🏃🏻🧘🏻‍♂️🌎😷