To the Editor:
The Coronavirus pandemic and associated COVID-19 health crisis have affected Florida, but not to the extent of New York, New Jersey, and Italy.
With 283 COVID-19 deaths (to date) this crisis has yet to peak, but the crest is in sight and the state needs to plan for the re-opening of businesses.
So far, all official talk and press conferences have focused on how to “flatten the curve” and social distancing.
How are Florida residents going to re-enter their lives and jobs? What path does the government have for the inevitable mixing of the Florida populace with our numerous visitors? What plans are being made to get us back towards normal in an environment where Coronavirus still exists but is less prevalent? Once the pandemic peak has passed, Coronavirus will still exist in our communities, and may re-emerge in the fall. Florida residents need to know there is a plan.
Acceptance of, and compliance with, the plan will be higher if there is a PR effort to educate the populace on the outline of a plan starting now. Dealing with the initial Coronavirus spread and COVID-19 health crisis were medical and logistics problems. Implementing a return towards normality is a psychology and trust problem.
Here is an outline of steps that could be taken to prepare the public with reasonable expected steps for the post-peak Coronavirus environment:
• Let the public know that the government IS planning for re-opening. Right now, the focus (appropriately) has been on prevention and treatment. Let people know to plan on vacationing in Florida this fall. This pandemic will have eased by then, one way or the other
• Dr. Scott Gottlieb has written a roadmap to re-opening. His projections depend on all people wearing some type of face mask in public for the foreseeable future. Let Floridians know you will begin easing stay-at-home orders very soon, but people will only be allowed to mix in public if they are wearing some type of face mask covering their nose and mouth (eye protection is a good idea also). Lifting the stay-at-home order now for those willing to wear a non-medical face mask would do wonders for state morale. Businesses that are still open (Circle-K, Publix, etc.) have already implemented distancing, including plexiglass shields for their personnel.
• Let Floridians know that social distancing is here to stay – at Publix, at Disneyworld, at Circle-K. Companies need to be able to plan for a soft-open when the closure orders are lifted but they need an official, definitive, target for social-distancing expectations. Give them one. Masks are an essential part.
• Re-open businesses that can safely do so. I’m a physician (anesthesiologist) and I work in an ambulatory surgery center. We are the perfect spot to loosen the medical procedure leash. If you need our ventilators, please come and take them, but you won’t need to – Dyson, Tesla, and GM will be producing ventilators before you need ours. If you need our physicians, let us know. We’ll be happy to help. But I don’t think you will need us – the peak is expected to be within the medical capabilities of the Florida hospital system. ASCs are the perfect place to begin returning to a normal level of non-emergent medical procedures – we’re used to wearing masks and eye protection every day, we sanitize everything with Coronavirus-killing chemicals after each patient, we already have plans for social-distancing in our facilities, we won’t be treating outpatients in a facility also treating COVID-19 patients such as a hospital OPD, and we don’t take necessary medical supplies from hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. There is no reason we can’t safely perform medical procedures on afebrile, symptom-free, Floridians. Let us help get the Florida economy going again. Our staff are on the sidelines during the Coronavirus fight. We can do this. We want to do this. Most other businesses and employees feel the same way.
• Please avoid closings that crush morale but don’t do anything to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. I’m thinking of the boat ramp closure. Boating, done with your fellow quarantinees, at 10+ mph, in the wonderful UV-disinfectant Florida sunshine, doesn’t spread the virus. Floridians know this. Promulgating orders like this undermines the public trust that you need for continuing prevention measures, such as wearing masks in public.
Prepare us to help you get Florida back on its feet and ready for business.
Paul J. Bruha, M.D.
Spanish Springs
