Confronting the COVID-19 Virus: An ER Doctor’s Thoughts

Now that we are in crisis, it’s time to stop listening to every blog and twitter account with an opinion and instead look to those who have the training and expertise to combat the epidemic.

When I talk to people about the COVID-19 virus, I try to start with some basic facts to make sure we are beginning from the same foundation. As a doctor, one of my biggest struggles is overcoming a culture of misinformation and a prevailing distrust of traditional sources of expertise.

With the rise of the internet, suddenly everyone believes they are an expert in what is wrong and how to treat it. This often makes my job frustrating, for example, when having to explain that peppermint does not cure a cold.

This belief that we are all experts has become particularly challenging in medicine as patients self-diagnose and treat themselves. It is not uncommon that a patient will argue with experts offering evidence

Now that we are in crisis, it’s time to stop listening to every blog and twitter account with an opinion and instead look to those who have the training and expertise to combat the epidemic.

Let’s start with some basic facts:

COVID-19 has shown similar characteristics to influenza. It is spread from person to person through droplets (sneezing, coughing) and droplets left on surfaces. It also can spread asymptomatically from person to person for several days. In other words, you could have and spread the virus without knowing it. This is why social distancing—even if you don’t have symptoms—is so important.
The virus is different from influenza. We currently do not have a vaccine for it and we don't know its’ true mortality rate. Despite what some misinformed people have said, it is almost certainly much higher than influenza, especially for the elderly and immunocompromised.
The numbers coming out of Italy are alarming. This pandemic has overwhelmed robust hospital systems across the globe, leading to massive understaffing and overworked health care providers, not to mention the challenging ethical considerations of who gets to live and who dies.