Listening to the Experts
I write this as we are experiencing a shelter in place order in the State of Michigan. The Governor of Michigan,Gretchen Whitmer, ordered it based on recommendations from public health experts. Those experts concluded that social distancing was the best way to “flatten the curve” or slow the spread of the disease to reduce the number of patients needing urgent care at hospitals at the same time.
Those of us “lucky” enough to be at home are frustrated by the isolation and boredom that comes along with being stuck inside. Michigan spring weather is teasing us with a warm day followed by snow, wind and hail the next making it difficult to even sit on our porch. Traditionally, many Michiganders would be heading south just to feel the sunshine again after months of cloudy skies. Seasonal depression is a real issue here in Michigan.
Adding to the frustration is the realization that many people here are not able to pay their bills, rent/mortgages, and unable to buy food to feed their families. We all want so badly to return to normal. Yet we must remember this is temporary. Our Governor is doing the right thing by extending the stay at home orders for several more weeks.
By staying home longer we are helping to ease the burden that our healthcare workers are facing. Small rural hospitals can not absorb a peak influx of sick Coronavirus patients. Large urban hospitals, especially in Metro Detroit are experiencing volumes of sick patients they have never seen before. Large temporary areas are being set up to hold as many patients as possible. Doctors and nurses are working overtime, compromising their own health to care for our loved ones. They are experiencing the trauma of death on a daily basis despite doing everything they can to prevent it.
If you were to ask most people diagnosed with a specific disease if they would prefer to consult their local primary care doctor or an expert specialist in the field of that particular disease state, I would guess everyone would prefer the expert specialist. There would of course be financial considerations involved and possibly numerous calls to your insurance company! However, people would prefer medical experts because they have studied and trained in that particular field longer than most thus improving their chances of having a positive outcome.
Our government has an obligation to listen to public health officials, epidemiologists, infectious disease doctors and all appropriate experts in order to make decisions in the best interest of us all. Public health must take precedence over our economy at a time like this. When the immediate threat is over or significantly reduced we can then listen to economic experts on how to recover from this pandemic. We can even debate this in a partisan manner but when it comes to public health, politics has no role. We must listen to the experts!
