Letter From a Brave American Physician

My mom got this in her email this morning from her primary care physician. Good to see some of them are aware of the danger and trying to help their patients prepare.



David W******
Physician at Greystone Internal Medicine

I’m not an alarmist, but I am a realist. This is info I have condensed about COVID-19 from my research and practice as well as from several physician colleagues, one in Washington State, one quarantined in Italy, another in New York, others from around the USA.

This is NOT like the flu. Stop comparing it. Yes, people die from the flu but this novel Coronavirus is different. It is aggressive. It has the potential to be very destructive and lethal.

In Italy there is a tremendous crisis caused by this virus. Some hospitals there are at 200% occupancy and they simply don't have the resources to deal with the number of critically ill patients.

Community spread is already happening in endemic areas here such as Washington State. It is difficult to know the full magnitude due to low number of tests and strict testing criteria. Many times tests are requested, but denied by the authorities as happened in my office in Birmingham today.

Hand washing and aggressive attention to cleanliness are imperative, but may not be enough. In any scenario where infection is a possibility do not touch your face. Do not touch your mouth. Do not touch your nose.

Masks, even the N95, can prevent YOU from spreading droplets if YOU cough or sneeze while you are sick, but do not necessarily protect you from becoming infected. Furthermore, If you get droplets on your hands and then touch your mask you may still become infected. Wearing masks may give you a false sense of security.

Stay away from crowds as much as possible.

Don’t shake hands.

Avoid travel unless it is absolutely unavoidable.

Get on a cruise ship at your own peril. But seriously, don’t get on a cruise ship.

Older people are more at risk. There is high mortality in the elderly and frail population. We must be prepared for significant strain on the healthcare system if this virus continues to spread and moves into more vulnerable populations like nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

If I went to school with you, you’re at least close to being in the group at higher risk

Young people, while less at risk, are not immune. There are healthy people in their 20’s and 30's with no other risk factors now on ventilators battling this disease. If you want to know more about this, research "cytokine storm."

Tamiflu does very little to help. Remdesivir has some promise, but is very expensive and also in short supply.

Do not assume that simply because the virus isn’t near you yet that it isn’t coming.

If you are asked to quarantine yourself, please, by all that is holy, quarantine yourself.

Do not make the assumption that if you get infected you'll be fine, please, do everything you can to avoid getting infected.

The dry erase board picture that is going around Facebook is misleading. The Contagion factor of COVID-19 is 2.8. This is a disturbing number for a disease with this degree of mortality. If you understand math then you understand how this can spread exponentially very quickly.

I know this may not be very popular with some of you, and I'm not here to argue with those who aren't ready to face facts, but this is the reality of COVID-19. We need to do everything we can now to stop it from spreading. DBW