Fighting together by staying apart
It’s been 150 years since the U.S. fought a war on its soil, but today we are on the brink of one, and we all need to do our part. It is now clear that COVID-19 is a generational crisis: a call to unite for the greater good, to put our individual needs and interests aside, to sacrifice as we’ve never had to in our lifetimes. And we young people have a crucial role in this fight.
We must fight together by staying apart. It’s a paradoxical challenge, but one for which our generation has been preparing all our lives. Our digital vices are about to become our lifelines. We can and must heed the call. For our parents, grandparents, friends with underlying health conditions and our health care providers.
It’s easy to convince ourselves that this virus need not worry us: It’s the sick and elderly, after all, who are most at risk. But in reality, we have tremendous power and responsibility to slow the rate of infection.
According to the Korean Centers for Disease Control, 28 percent of COVID-19 cases there are people between the ages of 20 and 29. That’s the most of any age group, which is particularly striking as there are more 30-, 40- and 50-year-olds than 20-year-olds in Korea. True, these people are being hospitalized at a much lower rate, but because they are not as affected by the virus, they are likely spreading it at a higher rate than other age groups.
What follows isn’t meant to cause alarm. The New Mexico and Santa Fe governments already have taken tremendous steps, and Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center is a top-notch community hospital. Santa Feans should feel confident that if they need care, they will find a health care system ready and able to provide it.
But no amount of preparation can compensate for a lack of persistent and diligent social distancing. Santa Fe County has a population of 150,000 people. Early evidence suggests that about 5 percent of people who contract COVID-19 require an ICU bed. If just 2 percent of the county got the virus at one time, about 150 people would need that level of care. That would be an unprecedented and unsustainable weight on our doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and hospital infrastructure.
This is undeniable, uncontroversial science. Our health care system will be overwhelmed unless we take drastic action. New Mexico still appears to be ahead of the ball compared to where I am in Boston, but this is no time for complacency. The more we can slow the spread of infection now and #FlattenTheCurve, the fewer people will die.
So let’s stop traveling, stop going about our daily lives and — I don’t know who exactly needs to hear this — stop hoarding toilet paper! I understand there will be sacrifices. Please reach out to me if you need help asking for relief from landlords, banks or any other institution asking you to risk public health because you owe them money. If we all bear the inevitable economic losses upfront, we’ll prevent much greater loss of life.
To my fellow young Santa Feans, I’m asking for your help. I wish I were there with you to face these trying times, but I’m in Boston for school and it would be irresponsible to risk bringing infection into our city. My moms live in Santa Fe, though, and one of them has an autoimmune disease and diminished lung function. If she got sick, she might well need a ventilator. I’m asking you to help me help her, because I can’t do anything else from here.