What can be done in the war against COVID-19?
By Veita Bland, M.D. / November 27, 2020
The 3-Ws are still the rule: Wear a mask, wash the hands and wait with social distancing of at least six feet.
We are in a war and COVID-19 is winning and winning big.
Across this country the war against COVID-19 is in high gear. Top infectious disease specialists, like as Dr. Anthony Fauci, have stated we need a national uniform plan as the state by state plans have been unsuccessful. At this point, there are no plans of a national initiative under the Trump administration. So, what are we to do?
The spread of this virus is aggressive and unrelenting. I spoke to several local officials to get their take on what we can do now to try to flatten the cure that keeps going up.
Dr. Cynthia Snider is an infectious disease physician at Cone Health for the past eight years. she is also the medical director of infection prevention, thus helping with COVID-19 preparedness for the health system. In getting control of COVID-19, Snyder said, “I think the key thing to mention is that in the last week we have had a steady increase in COVID cases in our community and we are at a point where we need to not wait for our local governmental officials to enact restrictions. We need to take it upon ourselves to be vigilant with the 3Ws (wear mask, wash hands, wait 6 feet apart). Many outbreaks now are due to gatherings, not just large ones. We need to reconsider our plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is too risky to be with others outside of your household members. Please reconsider any gatherings people are planning for Thanksgiving. We need to double down on our efforts to curb this pandemic.”
Likewise, I spoke to Katrina White, who is the Rockingham County Public Health information officer. She echoed the sentiments of Dr. Snider. “We need to practice the 3W’s. We need to watch our behavior and follow the guidelines set out.”
Speaking to other healthcare providers, we are seeing that a change in the behavior of us all is the best way to flatten the curve. A lot of this is in our hands as it has been all along. We do not have to wait for mandates to make changes in our behavior.
Dr. Katheryn Strup says we all wear a seat belt; we all stop at stop signs and lights. We follow the rules of keeping ourselves and others safe in public. Why can’t we do that and wear a mask? It is not asking too much to save many lives.
Follow the 3 W’s, get a flu shot and avoid all gatherings. Is that too much to ask?
