It will be important for all of us now to take a break from our partisan worldviews and
listen to the scientists and health professionals. Research from the Swine Flu epidemic of
2009-2010 has shown that those who don’t trust information from health experts were
less likely to receive protective vaccinations and therefore more likely to die.
Unfortunately, we are not all listening to the health experts now. Again, according to The
Economist, “in countries where there is a high level of trust in government, some strong
measures [like mandatory quarantines] will be supported. June 2019 polling found that
people in different countries have variable degrees of trusting government health
information, including 78% of Canadiens, 80% of Germans, 80% of Brits, and 86% of
South Koreans. However, only 59% of Americans do. In a pandemic with a virus that
carries such lethality as this one, such views can cost lives. Now is the time to pull
together.
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Seek health care only if you become very ill. As of this writing, we cannot treat Covid-19
directly. We can help those with difficulty breathing or who become very ill. But keep in
mind that the very locations that will provide aid to the sickest, will also likely prove to
have the highest risk for viral transmission. For well over 80% of those infected, this will
prove just another flu-like illness. For a smaller percentage, it will require the best in our
emergency and critical care. Try to stay home but come in if you need us.