2020. In the healthcare field, that usually means normal vision. Boy do we need it now.
We’re several weeks into this life-changing event—the coronavirus pandemic—and it’s a good time to assess what we’ve learned.
- It takes time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Daily—maybe hourly—we read of “new breakthroughs”, “exciting discoveries”, “game-changing developments.” We hungrily respond to these claims for a lot of reasons. We want to hear something good instead of the constant drone of bad news. More importantly, we’ve become accustomed to “instant information” and have lost two important components of perspective—patience and discernment. (Next time we’re going to consider the current relevance of a quote attributed to various writers:
“A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.”
- This is a serious problem. Covid19 is a virulent virus, but it’s not the plague. It’s virulent because of its efficiency of transmission, its predilection for attacking the lungs, and our lack of immunity to it (remember, this is a novel virus). Again, it’s not the plague. We have not yet lost millions to this infection, hence the need for a balanced perspective. We don’t yet know an accurate “death rate.” We looked before at this calculation. We have a good idea of the number of deaths due to the coronavirus (the “numerator”), but we don’t know the number of people actually infected (the “denominator). When we use the number of positive tests as the denominator, we don’t include the hundreds of thousands of people who are infected but not tested. That skews the death rate in an alarming direction. It’s going to take weeks if not months to have an accurate estimation.
- “Social distancing” and “social separation” are effective methods in slowing the spread of this (or just about any) infection. We’ve known that for hundreds of years, and its application now is important. Not exciting, or “a brand-new discovery,” but effective none-the-less.
- As of this writing, there is no proven treatment for Covid19, other than supportive measures. That may change, but beware of snake-oil salesmen. Once again, we all want instant answers to this pandemic, and instant cures.
- Practicing logical hygiene makes a difference. Hand-washing, disinfecting surfaces, etc. Most importantly though is the concept of “separation.”
Now for some good news. We will eventually have a vaccine for the coronavirus, though it’s months in the future. It takes time, and we want it to be effective. Remember, this is the same family of viruses that gave us SARS1 and MERS. Healthcare providers will be routinely recommending the annual flu vaccine along with the annual corona vaccine. More immediately, it appears that we will soon have a POC (point of care) test available for this virus. That will be a game-changer. With the flu or strep, we can get reliable diagnostic results in less than half an hour. Once we have this available on a broad scale, the management of this problem changes significantly. Among other things, we will know who needs to be quarantined and who doesn’t. It will especially help those on the “front-lines” of this pandemic.
So, here are a couple of things to keep in mind. There are a lot of people hurting right now, and it seems that is going to get worse. Take care of yourself, but also take care of your family and your neighbors.
And now is a good time to read and reread Romans 8:38-39. Commit it to memory. 2020 vision is still possible. As is a significant measure of peace.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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