Don’t vote ‘business as usual’ on virus, guns, brutality
As a physician, I have been asked countless times in the last several months if the coronavirus pandemic will make us reexamine public health, care for the underserved, cost and quality? I hope so, but the citizenry will have to break out of a pattern of getting extremely concerned for a while, then going on about their business and allowing partisan politics to douse the flames.
In the case of coronavirus, we have already begun to forget, at our peril. Hospitalizations have hit their highest levels ever in Houston, and ICU’s are filling up, according to the Houston Chronicle. This is not a statistical blip. This is not more testing. This is not a lag in reporting. Frighteningly, we can’t even blame this entirely on an event like a protest.
Now Houston has an order for businesses to require patrons to wear masks. But this will not work unless we all pay attention to wearing masks — and not just for the duration of the order.
Our increase in cases is a result of Houstonians ignoring safe ways to reopen. We did well when we were locked down, but Houstonians are now beginning to “go on about their business.” Last evening, I was picking up dinner at a restaurant wearing a mask; the servers were all wearing masks. As I was waiting, over a 10-minute period, the restaurant went from empty to seating about 20 people. Not one person was wearing a mask when they walked in. Some on television have called wearing a mask a placebo. But that’s wrong. Wearing a mask reduces the chance of getting the virus by more than 80 percent.
This is about every person in Houston: We need to understand that not wearing masks will cause us to be locked down again. Here’s how that works: The projections of the number of cases and deaths is based to a major extent on the social distancing data. The more we mingle without masks, the projections get worse and worse. And now, with the actual increase in cases, the projections have come true. This increase due to our own behavior may merge with the natural increase “second wave” in a couple of months. For young people, the fact that you are less likely to be sickened by the virus is not the point. If you as an individual don’t wear a mask, you add to the statistics of the failure of stopping transmission by social distancing that could cause us to be locked down — again.
What about my final statement above allowing partisan politics to douse the flames? I am not going to point at anyone, but watch for yourself those politicians who either ignore or wrongly explain the increases in cases, potentially leading to inaction.
The question was whether coronavirus will be the stimulus for us to reexamine health care. We are the most expensive country for health in the world but far from the top in life expectancy and infant mortality. I am concerned that as awful as the coronavirus has been and will be, we will yet again “go back to business” to an inefficient system that denies care to so many.
What does this have to do with Sandy Hook and George Floyd? Look back at Sandy Hook and guns. We got concerned, we went about our business, and politicians doused the flames. We are now at a point where we as the public can change systemic racism and police brutality — if we don’t “go on about our business.” No more choke holds is a great start. The country needs so much more.
Laws for real change — not shining objects that don’t go far enough — are necessary. We have been the victim of brutally-divided state and national courts, legislatures and executive branches. Leadership is required. We have an opportunity in November to state our case on gun control, respect for each other, police brutality and health care. The differences between candidates are stark. Vote.