Misguided Guidelines and Policies

• 120+ Doctors and Health Care Workers in the UK succumbed to COVID-19.
• One early casualty was Dr. Khin Tun (Peter, MRCP, former Associate Dean of Oxford University).
  He was hailed as one of the “Heroes”, and the Neuro Academy has named an award after him.
• Many family members felt that their loved ones paid a high price behind [misguided and rigid] “Guidelines and Policies”.

Some Unanswered Questions

• How Covid-19 started and became a pandemic
  From the wet market?
  From eating exotic animals / food?
  From a lab?
  
  Some say the virus is not man-made.
  Some speculate that the virus could have “escaped”
  (leading to conspiracy theories)
  
  The Blame game (by countries and organizations) is still going on
  
• Why the early reports downplayed the damaging power of COVID-19
  
  Initial reports did not mention that the virus can be transmitted by humans
  Later reports show how a single infected person can unknowingly spread the virus to masses attending gatherings, taking cruises
  
  Some said that washing hands is “good enough”
  Others pointed out that the hand is only one source of infection.
  
  Initial reports said that the virus would only attack the respiratory system.
  Later reports reported damage of organs and the nervous system.
  
  Initial reports did not include symptomatic patients
  Some reports counted only deaths of COVID-19 patients in hospitals
  
• Why several countries reacted slowly to the Pandemic
  
  Some pointed the fingers to WHO (for declaring the Pandemic late)
  
  Some dismissed the virus as a “Myth” or a “Kind of flu that will go away easily”.
  
• Why front line health workers in some countries were not provided with PPE
  
  Some said the policies were guided not by science, but by the availability of resources (Some guidelines were relaxed too much).
  
  Some said that it was to save cost (not realizing that the medical equipment may not be easy to purchase or order during a Pandemic).
  
• The impact on economy
  
  The Bull market disappeared
  
  Several companies filed for bankruptcy
  
  Millions became unemployed (furloughed or terminated)
  
• The impact of social behavior
  
  Various levels of isolation :
  quarantine / lock-down
  shelter at home / circuit breaker
  self-isolation
  
  Some people cannot even visit their family members and close relatives
  
  Teleconferencing / virtual meeting
  (to see loved ones for the last time’ cannot attend funeral services)
  
  On-line teaching / learning
  (need reasonably good Internet connection and devices)
  
  Domestic and international travel
  
• The safe distance
  
  Most guidelines say 6 feet,
  
  Some experiments show that the virus can travel farther (up to 20 feet)
  
• Why asymptomatic cases were ignored in the initial reports
  
  To have good statistical reports
  
  Many that were infected did not display symptoms (upgraded to six or more in later reports) but they contributed to the spread of virus
  
  They could “carry” / “spread” COVID-19 (and not easy to “trace” the 0-person / originator of hot spots)
  
• Why COVID-19 has different impact on
  
  Men (60% of cases in UK)
  
  Asian and Blacks (were hit more in UK)
  
  Age groups (80 year olds are the hardest hit at first.
  Younger age groups are getting hit.
  Even children (1 to 2 years) are being tested positive,
  
  Nursing home fatalities are high (e.g. in a New Jersey nursing home, 50 of the 80 elders died of COVID-19)
  
  Countries (some “poor” nations fare better than “rich” nations)
  
  Many factors (e.g. genetic make up, health condition, blood type) are being studied, but no conclusive results yet.
  
• Most new medicine /cure take 5 – 10 years of development, testing and approval
  
  Can a “truly safe” vaccine or a cure be found / developed in a few months?
  
  There is a race to come up with a safe vaccine
  The stock prices of some bio-tech companies went up.
  Not sure if the cost of the vaccine would be covered (or subsidized)
  
• Why many “miraculous cures” were promoted by people who have no medical knowledge
  
  Ingesting disinfectants
  
• Why some do not seem to have compassion
  
  A few politicians say that “economy and liberty” are much more important than the loss of lives (particularly the “seniors”)
  
• Testing
  
  What is the reliability of test-kits?
  
  What is the consensus on “anti-body testing”?
  
• Wave
  
  Is the first wave still on?
  
  Is there a resurgence (or second wave) in some places that re-opened early?