Today was an interesting day to say the least. A few not-so-fun facts: 160 people died in the US of Covid-19 vs 100 yesterday; NY Governor, Andrew Cuomo asked FEMA for 30,000 ventilators and received a whopping 400; and finally, at this very moment, there are 60 patients hospitalized at a local hospital under investigation for Covid-19, not well enough to go home. And the picture you see here is a chest x-ray of someone who may have Covid-19, a fairly young person with no major health problems coming to our drive-thru this afternoon with oxygen levels of 60-70%. After all the positive messages we have received in erecting this drive-thru, it was particularly humbling to stumble upon this patient today--who may have otherwise not gone to the ER. Can you believe they might have just gone home and tried to rest this off? While we are still rationing tests to those who are sicker, I do feel that we made a difference today. And our efforts are geared towards making mass testing available. If you are reading this and have connections to industry or civic leadership, let your voice be heard, how can the richest nation on this planet NOT have same day testing available to clinics like ours that want to make a difference? When the alternative is this x-ray... what answer is possibly justified? Again, what is one life worth? What are 160 lives worth? That's with the country on lockdown... but apparently not enough of a lockdown. Here's the second ask, if you are reading this, repost to your friends and family: social distancing is NOT supposed to be fun, funny, or a free-for-all. I saw a social distancing painting party and a social distancing hookah gathering just a few days ago on social media. Now, next time you are in such a space, close your eyes, do a prayer, and when you open them imagine everyone around you with an oxygen level of 65% taking up the enter floor of a hospital. No seriously, imagine it, because that's what's going to happen. Every single person reading this should pretend he or she has Covid-19 right now--like it was the Bubonic Plague, a disease that lives on in infamy for its ability to spread by touch. In the meantime, drive-thru reopens at 1pm.
