Another Pragmatic Public Health Decision
There has been much criticism of the decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to let Covid-infected people who are feeling better to stop quarantining after five days and simply wear a mask. Most of the concern stems from the fact that up to 31% of people in this category will actually still […]
Resisting Public Health Measures, Then and Now
We owe the “rounders” an apology. Rounders were tuberculosis patients in the early 20th century who left hospitals against medical advice when they felt better and later wound up at another hospital. While “making the rounds,” they potentially infected others with their disease. Health officials routinely criticized these individuals for endangering the public. One of […]
Weighing Risks for My Patients at a Time of Covid-19
My patients continue to have medical problems that are not related to the coronavirus. But now, when I offer recommendations — especially those that possibly involve putting themselves at risk of contracting a Covid-19 infection — they often reject my advice. Of course, my patients have a point. Not only has the coronavirus killed hundreds […]
Now is the time to trust public health experts like Anthony Fauci
The news that staying at home and other forms of social distancing may be flattening the curve of the deadly covid-19 outbreak has led to growing calls to rescind these public health edicts. For example, the top-ranking Republican in the Minnesota state legislature has announced his opposition to Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) order that citizens continue to […]