Member-only story
If social distancing and home quarantine are practiced during the COVID-19 crisis, the number of people requiring critical care will decrease significantly.
This is a time of high stress, anxiety, and feelings of helplessness.
With the rapid spread of the novel (new) coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19 illness, government leaders and health experts around the world are scrambling to contain the virus and keep people safe.
In the United States, we also are in the midst of this scramble, as the number of positive tests is increasing exponentially in some communities and the rate of deaths in these communities continues to climb, particularly among people who are 70 years of age or older, have existing medical vulnerabilities or both.
“The data coming out of China continues to say that the people who are at higher risk for severe disease and death are those who are older and with underlying health conditions,” Nancy Messonnier, M.D., director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a press briefing in early February.
Several states, including California, New York, and my home state of Illinois, have instituted mandatory lockdowns, which means that…
