What my doctor said about COVID-19

I had my annual physical this past week and I am thrilled to report that I am in good health. My vitals, metabolic panel, PSA and lipids were all clear. This is great news for someone of my advanced age…ha-ha. I’ve had the same doctor for about a decade. He’s a dry guy without much of a sense of humor. Nobody else in my family likes him, but he is a super fit guy who has always struck me as someone who does his research, and is always on the top of his game. Personally, I want my doctor to be really smart, and who looks like he practices what he preaches. I’m willing to sacrifice bedside manner for a little extra competence. While I was putting my shirt back on, I asked him, “so what’s the deal with COVID-19; is it really that bad?”. My doctor put his fist on his chin and went on to tell me that it is far worse than most people think. He added that he was concerned for me, because I had pneumonia last year and the virus could be riskier for me. He said the virus affects people differently, and that race and ethnicity appears to be a factor. He said kids are a lower risk of death because the virus tends to settle in their digestive tracts, but for adults it settles in their lungs, and from there it can spread like cancer to all of the major organs. He said that he personally has cancelled all travel for the balance of the year and that his colleagues who are virologists, say that we will be wearing masks and doing social distancing for another year. It was a little sobering. Especially because it appears like a lot of people are acting like the threat of the virus is over. I realize that everything is political these days, but COVID-19 does not care about politics. It is a devastating illness that will kill more than 200,000 Americans by September. That’s more than twice as many as the Korean and Vietnam wars combined. Please be careful out there.