Many United States citizens have been pushing for the shutdown to end. They have cited the Bill of Rights and their need to feed their kids. From company CEOs to small business owners, citizens have pleaded with their governors and the president to open up the country. Now, doctors have been added to this list.
More than 500 physicians have now signed a document outlining the dangers of a continued shutdown. This complaint has very little to do with the economy. These doctors have pointed out the series of health problems that will continue to result from a closed country.
The first signer, Simon Gold, compared COVID-19 to a Mass Casualty Incident. He then separated them into four different groups. Those unable to be saved were in the black, the most critical, yet treatable, were in red, series injuries are yellow, and green are minor injuries. The red group is a doctor’s priority. Once red is taken care of, yellow must be dealt with. These doctors claim that the red caused by the virus has been taken care of and now it’s time to focus on the other problems.
The letter explains that while the shutdown may have prevented the spread of the Coronavirus, now it is doing more harm than good.
Millions of Americans are already at triage level red. These include 150,000 Americans per month who would have had a new cancer detected through routine screening that hasn’t happened, millions who have missed routine dental care to fix problems strongly linked to heart disease/death, and preventable cases of stroke, heart attack, and child abuse. Suicide hotline phone calls have increased 600%.
The Corona Virus is no longer the problem, now it’s the fear of cancer, abuse, and suicide. The yellow isn’t doing much better.
Tens of millions are at triage level yellow. Liquor sales have increased 300-600%, cigarettes [sic] sales have increased, rent has gone unpaid, family relationships have become frayed, and millions of well-child check-ups have been missed.
The letter went on to outline cases the doctors have seen, including cases of depression, suicide, strokes, and alcoholism that could have been avoided in an open America. The shutdown will have a dangerous longterm effect on children and teenagers and are casualties that can not be ignored. They then ended the letter saying that the effect on mental health is not lessened by the number of people affected by it.
Losing a job is one of life’s most stressful events, and the effect on a person’s health is not lessened because it also has happened to 30 million other people…. The millions of casualties of a continued shutdown will be hiding in plain sight, but they will be called alcoholism, homelessness, suicide, heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure. In youths, it will be called financial instability, unemployment, despair, drug addiction, unplanned pregnancies, poverty, and abuse.
According to these doctors, fear of economic collapse is not the only thing that people should be worried about. The virus may not claim the most casualties during this pandemic. It seems that in contrast to the liberal argument, opening the country is far from irresponsible and may even save lives.