This coronavirus is not relenting and the choices you make will save lives or will cost lives.
The second surge is here, and it is a threat to all of our lives, including those who choose to or must work closely with those who are ill and contagious.
As physicians and as part of the health care team, it is our sacred obligation and honor to provide care to our patients during any circumstance, but that does not preclude us from fearing that this work – these confrontations with the coronavirus - could kill us. Many of us have lost colleagues or have seen our co-workers become critically ill.
By choosing to stay home or to wear a mask if you must be out, you’re not only reducing the spread of the disease and putting the health of your family and community at the forefront, but you’re protecting the lives of your health care team and essential workers.
We need to be doing everything we can to make certain that our health care resources – the most important being our people, our workforce – are not overwhelmed and can meet the influx of patients who need lifesaving care.
Taking unnecessary risks will inevitably drive the infection rate up and the increased exposure will deplete our health care workforce and essential workforce as more of our friends and colleagues fall ill - or worse.
Please be considerate of those who are risking their own lives to care for your loved ones and those essential workers who do not have the option nor the economic means to work remotely.
I am urging and pleading. Stay home and stay safe. Staying home includes choosing not to celebrate Thanksgiving in our customary ways, which is disappointing and gut-wrenching for us all.
We can and we will get through this, but just how quickly and how healthy is dependent on our willingness to make selfless sacrifices for the greater good.
-David A. Rosman, MD, MBA, President, Massachusetts Medical Society
