CONTAIN COVID with common sense and social distancing

Please help contain COVID and any future pandemic with these 13 common sense points, coming from the pandemic response. And if you have other suggestions, please add them as comments.

1) TRUST EXPERTS – When evaluating public policy, listen to the epidemiologists, immunologists, and public health experts even more than doctors. Listen to doctors more than journalists. Listen to journalists more than politicians. And, trust only those who are trustworthy, not those with a selfish motive or history of telling lies.

2) MOST VULNERABLE? – When this novel coronavirus first appeared, it had never been seen in humans, so there was no immunity, and the entire population was vulnerable. That’s why there was such a rush to develop a vaccine. China saw much higher mortality rates in those over age 60, and over 70 but, in North Texas at least, even more young adults were getting seriously ill. That could be because of vaping or not taking things seriously. We just don’t know.

3) TESTING – We initially didn’t know how big the problem is. Tracking our general trajectory against Italy and other nations, however, is why Governors took draconian measures to promote social distancing. Their hope was to flatten the curve and protect the healthcare system, those working in it, and those with other conditions who still depend on it. But even when testing was free, many didn’t get tested, especially if they lacked insurance to cover treatment if they tested positive. Many of them worried about losing their job, and insurance.

4) HOW IT SPREAD – We now know that this virus spreads quickly from infected people even days before symptoms appear, and a few weeks afterwards. Once testing helped us better understand where hotspots were and how the virus spread, we were able to model appropriate policy responses. But we learned that testing alone is not enough to prevent transmission. People with no symptoms could still be quite contagious, and the virus stayed viable for some distance in the air. We believed it was also viable for some time (days or weeks) on different surfaces, but we later learned it was almost entirely respiratory, transmitted through micro droplets floating in the air. 

5) SOCIAL DISTANCING – It’s not like we could rely on people staying home when they were sick. Many were contagious well before they felt sick. So community spread happened easily until people were separated. That’s what public health officials worried so much about. It’s why we saw such harsh rules, with schools and businesses closing. It’s why so many got upset when they saw noncompliance.

6) ISOLATION VS. QUARANTINE – Clearly, a great many people did not comply with social distancing guidelines, putting others at risk. Even closing schools, churches, restaurants, and businesses had limited affect when people who did not comply returned to infect the rest of their family. Many teens did that after Spring Break, just as younger kids did after play dates at the park, or dad did playing tennis or golf with his buds. Social distancing was hard to enforce.

7) ENFORCEMENT – We didn’t go as far as China, which was the global epicenter. Many argued it was extremely wasteful to shut down the economy and pass multi-trillion dollar bailout bills if a 2-week lockdown had to extend into four weeks or more because some people didn’t comply. Better, some say, would have been stronger enforcement to begin with. But that’s hindsight. If the virus returns with a new strain, we may face the need for an even tougher and longer lockdown.

8) TRACKING – With better tracking, we would have learned more quickly where to apply harsh isolation policies, and where we could lighten up. Even after we “carefully” restarted the economy, we still needed ways to know about remaining hotspots and what procedures worked or not.

9) STAFFING – There already weren’t enough doctors and nurses, so hospitals asked retired medical workers to return. They got a good response, but there was also a risk of the staff getting infected too, especially with an early shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE). Thus, the system unable to see or treat many patients, including those suffering from stroke, heart attack, or a car accident. Social noncompliance put them at risk too.

10) BROADBAND – Having access to fast Internet connections is the basis of telework, distance learning, and telehealth. For those who had it, telehealth video calls already helped to offload overwhelmed hospitals, and thankfully regulatory restrictions were relaxed to promote more telehealth. Telehealth also allowed the medical staff to self-isolate at home and still remain productive and they “saw patients” remotely. But soon, telehealth providers themselves were overwhelmed too. Another problem was that broadband service was not available everywhere, including in rural and underserved communities. That’s been especially troublesome, because rural populations are generally older and less healthy, and many country hospitals have closed. One bright spot, which is still holding on today, is that businesses learned about telework benefits and how to use video conferencing tools like Zoom. 

11) TECHNOLOGY – Some nations used digital thermometers to deny access to public transportation, stores, and restaurants. Even with that, there was still a risk, because some people didn’t show a temperature during incubation and recovery stages. If smartphone apps were paired with thermometers and other digital sensors (like those found in a smart watch or ring), public officials could have done better at tracking contagion spread or containment, possibly looking back a day or so before symptoms appeared to know where the person went and who they met. But we still aren’t quite there yet.

12) ANALYTICS – Big data and cloud-based telehealth services could also be used to monitor individual symptoms. Such monitoring could track movement and reveal trends, helping officials follow this & future infections to contain their spread. We saw municipalities begin to monitor their sewer systems for signs of outbrakes. 

13) POLITICS – (Lucky 13) We all know the public policy response to this pandemic was horrific and not well coordinated. It should not have been political, but it was. Former President Trump deserves credit for his role promoting Operation Warp Speed. But with hindsight, medical experts have said Trump was personally responsible for well over half of our nation’s COVID deaths due to his other policies. Maybe, or maybe not, but I hope our pandemic experience will cause a renewed debate over the proper role of government and also increase public support for policies like universal healthcare or paid sick leave to help save lives and our economy. We’ll see. 

NO, COVID WAS NOT A HOAX.

Christian pastor Landon Spradlin, who thought COVID-19 is just ‘mass hysteria’ was among the first in Virginia to die from virus. RIP

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wayne Caswell is a retired IBM technologist, futurist, market strategist, consumer advocate, sleep economist, and founding editor of Modern Health Talk. With international leadership experience developing wireless networks, sensors, and smart home technologies, he’s been an advocate for Big Broadband and fiber-to-the-home while also enjoying success lobbying for consumers. Wayne leans left to support progressive policies but considers himself politically independent. (contact & BIO)