I’m a full-time ER doc getting ready to work a 24 hour shift in the emergency department. I am genuinely more concerned about going to work tomorrow morning than I was the day I launched on the space shuttle. 1.5% shuttle mortality vs 9-12% if I get COVID-19.
I just arrived in the ER to begin my shift. A word about mortality and COVID-19. As of 6 AM CDT, the Johns Hopkins website tracking COVID-19 lists the overall mortality at 5.04%. Lethality occurs in a linear fashion until age 55 to 60, when it becomes asymptotic.
I just turned 74 years old and have three comorbidities. The death rate for people ages 70-79 in Italy has been 12.8%. In China it was listed at 8%. Currently in the US we are somewhere between 4-5%. Of course, nobody really knows. Whatever it is, It’s not a trivial number.
Some of your comments question the wisdom of what I am doing. I have been practicing emergency medicine for 45 years. I like it, it’s interesting, and I have lots of experience. To abandon ship during the greatest public health crisis of our lifetimes is inconceivable to me.
A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.
