THREAD 1/ Finally got a day off from the wards. Finally have a chance to call out more bullshit. Frontline workers who have been risking their lives in hospitals, grocery stores, pharmacies, factories, nursing homes - the people that couldn't stay home- should be protected first
2/ Inequity is a bigger epidemic in the USA. Point blank. We talk about upstream factors for disease transmission in global health and epidemiology. What is upstream of #covid19 transmission? Inequity. It's literally why some people could stay home/stay safe. Others couldn't.
3/ I don't want to see politician selfies anymore. Not right now. I was supposed to be vaccinated this weekend & at the last minute was notified I had been exposed to a colleague who tested positive. I'm not upset about this- this is the reality. The virus is spreading. #covid19
4/ Thankfully received a negative test today. Will serially test & keep working, bc that's what healthcare workers have had to do throughout the pandemic. We don't stop unless we are confirmed or have symptoms. Why? Bc the healthcare system would collapse otherwise.
5/ There's another point here- which is building trust for general public when we have a further vaccine rollout. Is vaccinating politicians the way to do this? Unclear. Bc many people in this country this year, have come to realize that politicians aren't the most trustworthy
6/ Building trust quickly is complicated. But we need to do it to achieve enough vaccine distribution to stop the epidemic. And we need to focus on equity. If you can afford to stay home, then wait in line. Let those who can't protect themselves get protected. #covid19
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1/ Have been on wards for the past 3 weeks making it harder to keep up w/ other new developments. But today a patient told me that while we were concerned about his chief medical complaint, what *he was concerned about* was tragedy he was dealing w outside the hospital.
2/ Many times throughout the epidemic, I have felt immensely guilty knowing that as a healthcare provider, while it was not always easy, I still had it so much better than what my patients were going through. Nothing was more humbling; nothing gave me more perspective
3/ While it was hard to be away from family for months; to not see friends; to basically have my routine become home—> hospital—> home, at least I had my health. I had peace of mind. I had a roof overhead. My patients often didn’t and don’t; this eats at me.
1/ As many of you know, I’m from Los Angeles. Many of my medical school classmates are now doctors out in LA— and I’ve heard the same from a number of them. The situation is really bad. @latimes
2/ One of my friends last night shared that a patient of his was discharged from an ICU straight home; was still sick; ended up being readmitted & dying (not covid) bc the beds were in such shortage that patient turnover reached unsafe levels. Filled ICUs are very bad news.
3/ And for all the #covid19 non-believers — even if you don’t believe in #covid19, I’m willing to bet most of you still believe in medicine in general.
ICU level emergencies outside of covid don’t just disappear— but beds definitely do in a deadly pandemic.
1/ Kansas public health administrator from small town targeted & abused for telling people to wear masks; her own husband refused to mandate them in his store, got #covid19, gave it to her as well; her mother ended up getting it and died on a ventilator.
2/ “Across the United States, state and local public health officials such as Coleman have found themselves at the center of a political storm as they combat the worst pandemic in a century.”
This will likely continue to be the biggest hindrance to stopping the epidemic IMO
3/ This targeting has been more than just public health administrators; practicing doctors are suffering as well. I have personally been targeted recently by right wing groups manipulating data (quite inelegantly at that) & information, leading to personal harassment. #covid19
1/ So important to acknowledge that when we tweet or share recommendations for how to stay safe or what to do at an individual level, these have drastically different implications based on our socioeconomic privileges. #covid19
2/ I’m sure everyone would love to “stay home”
I’m sure everyone would love to just order take out & have food delivered home
This isn’t the case.
And the patients we see are often the ones who can’t do either of those things #covid19
3/ So I can understand the frustration when onus is placed back on individuals over failing systems
But here too there is nuance. Our capitalism has led to stark inequities- where some portions of society do have $ protections & privilege of choice
The fact that what is likely to be a fake Tony Fauci Twitter account @Fauci gained 57k followers within minutes tells you a lot about how vulnerable we are to misinformation, abuse of trust etc
Our ability to sort out truth from lies has never been more important. #covid19
3/ And I totally hear the comments saying that this also reflects how much people are looking for a credible, trusted voice — here’s to hoping the real Dr. Fauci comes to @Twitter#covid19
1/ New paper out in @JAMAInternalMed on evaluating different types of MASKS and their filtration efficiency in indoor settings for #covid19
2/ They used a particle generator that put out sodium chloride aerosol particles “slightly smaller” than a #SARSCOV2 virion; the environment was set to mimic typical indoor settings #covid19
3/ They measured the fitted filtration efficiency (FFE)- essentially by looking at the concentration of particles that got through the mask (using a sampling probe in the mask) vs the concentration in the air - total testing time of 3 minutes #covid19