Thread by @Craig_A_Spencer

I have a really important message for you New York. Please share.

Sadly I know a lot about disease-induced hysteria in NYC. This message is not to cause panic, but prevent it.

5 years ago, after treating patients in W Africa, I was diagnosed with Ebola & treated here in NYC. 1/

If you lived here, you remember the hysteria. You maybe made ‘E-bowl-ing’ jokes. It was intense for a bit...then it dissipated.

#COVID19 WILL be different.

Working on the frontlines in the ER, I want to share some thoughts about how to stay safe and protect others. 2/

Every one of us will be impacted. Maybe you read about ‘social distancing’ and don’t totally understand/agree why it applies to you. You may think it’s fine to go to bars/restaurants, cause you’re young and healthy. You hear it’s ‘just the flu’. 3/

But this is a big deal. We must stop the spread of the virus, and we all have a role. 4/

Every interaction - at large concert halls & small dinner tables too - is another opportunity to spread this virus. Even when we are being extra cautious, us humans are not perfect. Viruses spread. We can only slow this by limiting our exposures.

So why is that so important? 4/

Even if the virus doesn’t hit you as hard (and there’s no guarantee it won’t - there’s been lots of young people put on life support), so many people around us are older, have weakened immune systems, or are more prone to infection. Limiting OUR exposures limits theirs too! 5/

I’m just leaving work in the ER. We already have #COVID19 cases. The # increases EVERY day. If they keep going at this rate, our system will be overwhelmed. We won’t have the space, personnel or supplies to provide the best care to our #coronavirus AND our regular patients. 6/

Our best hope right now is social distancing, or limiting our exposure to others. This slows how fast the virus moves in our communities, which decreases how many people get infected, which slows the spread of the virus, and so on... 7/

If we can do this NOW by limiting these exposures - at bars, restaurants, schools, etc - we can decrease the number of people coming to our ERs every day. Our system will still be stressed, but not overwhelmed. 8/

But if we continue going about our lives w/ no change, the rate of infections ⬆️⬆️⬆️. More come to our hospitals. Our ERs get overwhelmed. Our intensive care units become full. Our providers are at greater risk. Our patients without #coronavirus get worse care (or none at all)9/

Please limit your exposures - it will protect you, your co-workers, your neighbors, and your healthcare providers.

The upcoming weeks and months will be a struggle, but we will get past this. I promise.

And then we will bottomless brunch. 10/

♥️