Be a patriot: Join Fresno doctors in the ‘medical militia’ to win the pandemic war

Join the fight for independence from COVID-19 as American militia fought for political independence in 1776.

Our nation now battles an unprecedented pandemic. Six months into our invisible invasion, infected, hospitalized and dying COVID victims daily increase in number.

Sadly Americans during the early months failed to mount the campaign which in New Zealand led to almost complete control of illness. That small nation followed the leadership of its prime minister, accepted tough restrictions and rapidly stopped the spread of COVID-19.

The United States, by contrast failed. Our numbers of infected citizens now exceed 3 million. Our deaths have passed 135,000, headed for likely more than 200,000 by Election Day now less than four months away.

Your doctors hope for but still lack any vaccine — the ultimate artillery to win this struggle . With that, habit changes by individual citizens and families become the muskets of the medical militia we must become.

The mask is our main musket. One mask does little, but if everyone wears them, they fire a volley against the virus. We know that a mask primarily protects your neighbor, and their mask in turn protects you.

No mask would be needed if a person knew he/she was COVID-free. Unfortunately you can become infectious just a few days after exposure. Many shedding virus will never become symptomatic.

Face shields serve as an alternate or supplement to the mask. At least one hospital now requires both for any patient contact. Frequent hand washing becomes the bayonet of the musket. Soap and water are preferred, but alcohol-based sanitizer supplements that.

Social distancing, at least six feet, preferably more, serves as the preferred militia formation. Unlike close-ranked redcoats who fought colonists in 1776, successful fighting means using dispersion as a core tactic. Six feet is good, ten feet and more is better.

Meetings for educational, business and social reasons create risk we must try to avoid. Let’s thank Zoom, allowing “virtual” assembly for teaching, worship, and more. Most in-person meetings should be deferred over the next several months. For those meetings that are essential, social distancing is also essential. For example, one important hospital medical quality meeting with 20 members now meets in an auditorium seating nearly 300.

Yet we cannot completely “shelter in place.” Fortunately, essential local facilities like hospitals and doctors’ offices all now recognize and follow required precaution. Epidemiologists have identified medical care as the lowest risk activity outside of totally staying home. Maximizing your health increases your chances of resisting COVID-19 if you do become infected. As always, your overall health as requires maintenance.

Most stores also recognize needed precautions. Clerks now wear masks, and proactively not just chide customers without them, but decline service to those who fail to recognize that we now are in a war against this virus. At the most basic level, no mask, no donut!

Well-run, health-alert restaurants do the same, wait staff all in masks, tables dispersed, and now for three weeks, service only on patios where the risk of infection is even less. Take-out food remains an important alternative. We must accept that some businesses have issues insurmountable under current constraints; bars seem the most prominent example. One can still drink at home, albeit carefully.

Schools face a difficult challenge. We may see classrooms with half the desks, all-day classes divided into two sessions at the elementary level, and greater dependence on virtual learning at secondary levels and above. Even there, our main weapon, the mask, will remain needed for many months.

Once a vaccine hopefully becomes available, your physician’s advice will become even more important. Only a few patients with special issues will need to avoid inoculations. Like the Salk polio vaccine introduced in April 1955, more than one dose may be needed.

So be a patriot. Join us doctors in the medical militia to win the war against COVID-19.

This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 12:01 PM.