With the prolonged effects of covid-19, the life has not come to the previous normal again and it seems some of us may be getting used to the new normal with masks and hand washing and social distancing. The response of rest of us is quite less than optimal. After the first surge the general consensus seems like corona is been defeated and masses seem to start acting as if everything is alright.
As our knowledge about covid-19 is still in its sub-optimal phase and although we are gaining the insight yet plenty is unknown. Last eight months of dealing with Covid-19 has changed a lot of concepts about it but a lot is still to be known. Among that is the very important fact about the immunity in people infected by the virus and the duration of it. People who got infected seem to feel that they may be off the hook and for them the precautions may not be needed. Other people are of the opinion that the infection is nothing to be afraid of as the mortality rate is not that high. They are now taking it easy.
The appropriate response to any unknown is to act in a safer manner. That was what all of us did during the first phase of COVID-19. But now it is becoming harder and harder to convince people to use precautions. The markets are open, and the people shop the same way as before. Same markets which didn’t allow shoppers to enter without masks are not concerned about it at all.
There is something sinister creeping up in the back ground. It is slow and quite surge of COVID-19 and we all seem to act oblivious to it. It seems that a second surge is a real possibility and it may catch us all off guard. It makes us nervous as emergency physicians, as the number of patients coming to emergency departments is increasing yet all of them think COVID-19 can not be their diagnosis. This creates a very difficult situation for us to deal with. All people working in the emergency departments across Pakistan are at risk and because of unsafe and risky behavior of the patients the risk for the treating doctors increases by many folds.
I urge all the patients to exercise restraints and please cooperate with the treating staff. The triage nurse has the ultimate responsibility to make sure that the decision making at the entrance gate is safe for the patients as well as the staff working to treat all those patients. In order to provide care to all safely, the emphasis would be that the patients and the attendants cooperate with the
We are hopeful that soon the conditions would be favorable for the patients and treating staff in all hospital to be less diligent and let their guard down. That time has not arrived yet. The trust needs to strengthen and the mutual cooperation is what going to ensure safety for all.