Are you hoping for this isolation to end as soon as possible? Not me, even though that’s what I desperately want. You see, that hope does not serve my top-priority hope: to survive.
When it comes to health-related choices, I’m driven by my hope to make decisions that are both informed and in keeping with my values. Mid-April 2020, sadly, the best decision is to stay put. As for my choices regarding public health, I hope my personal conversations and public writings help highlight the value of helping our leaders make wise decisions.
How does anyone—leader or ordinary citizen—arrive at the best decisions (and there are many) about ending isolation? I’ll begin with the dispiriting news about determining the best time and best way to end isolation. The fact that humans are interacting with this novel virus (SARS-CoV2) for the first time in history means that nobody today knows …
All the facts about transmissibility of SARS-CoV2 in non-lab settings.
Whether recovered patients are immune to re-infection or are harboring dormant virus that can reactivate into disease (like how chickenpox can reactivate as Shingles).
How to prevent Covid-19 (the disease caused by SARS-CoV2) or treat it, beyond supportive care (fluids, ventilators, dialysis, etc.).
Whether as SARS-CoV2 mutates, it will become more virulent or less so.
The hopeful news is that today we can benefit from everything we do know about…
Similar viruses.
The various ways the body responds to external and internal disturbances.
Steps to minimize death rates from any novel virus, including the adoption of a variety of personal behaviors and the use of tools of public health.
There is no escaping that we will be dealing with great uncertainty over the coming months, if not years, as research reveals truths about this virus and how to treat it. My hopes for research include that…
Researchers continue working together as never before.
Useful findings are not muddied by purveyors of pseudoscience.
We minimize counterproductive administrative obstacles.
Until we have needed answers, I hope the decisions by our leaders to reopen communities…
Reflect our core values of preserving life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—in that order.
Are made after acquiring quality data that enables them to carefully assess the risks of each option. That means considering the risks of a resurgence of Covid-19 and the risks of prolonged isolation. That also means making the acquisition of reliable data one of the highest priorities.
As for the personal decisions made by each American, the social contract at the foundation of our country stipulates that when individuals’ actions put others at risk, public health takes priority over individuals’ rights. I hope we elevate discussion of our shared welfare in our private and public discourse.
As for me, my hope to survive this pandemic has spun off a host of healing hopes, such as hope for patience, hope to pursue health-promoting behaviors, and hope to make life the best it can be today, tomorrow, and every day.
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