But mostly, I’m scared about what message we are telling our kids when faced with a threat. Can you even imagine? I’m scared those same epidemic fears will limit trade, harm partnerships in multiple sectors, business and otherwise and ultimately culminate in a global recession. And well, even that big party called the Olympic Games…that could be kiboshed too. I am scared that travel restrictions will become so far reaching that weddings will be canceled, graduations missed and family reunions will not materialize.
I am scared that our hospitals will be overwhelmed with anyone who thinks they ” probably don’t have it but may as well get checked out no matter what because you just never know…” and those with heart failure, emphysema, pneumonia and strokes will pay the price for overfilled ER waiting rooms with only so many doctors and nurses to assess. I am scared of the N95 masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent care clinics where they are actually needed for front line healthcare providers and instead are being donned in airports, malls, and coffee lounges, perpetuating even more fear and suspicion of others. What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic, stockpiling obscene quantities of anything that could fill a bomb shelter adequately in a post-apocalyptic world. I am rightly concerned for the welfare of those who are elderly, in frail health or disenfranchised who stand to suffer mostly, and disproportionately, at the hands of this new scourge. I am concerned about the implications of a novel infectious agent that has spread the world over and continues to find new footholds in different soil. And with notable exception of SARS, very little has left me feeling vulnerable, overwhelmed or downright scared. HIV-AIDS, Hepatitis,TB, SARS, Measles, Shingles, Whooping cough, Diphtheria…there is little I haven’t been exposed to in my profession. I have worked in inner city hospitals and in the poorest slums of Africa. I’ve been at this for more than 20 years seeing sick patients on a daily basis. Sharkawy's letter I’m a doctor and an Infectious Diseases Specialist. Personal, Spiritual, Communal, Financial and Societal. Episode 56 We discuss the Coronavirus and the ways we can respond.
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