There is a treatment for
COVID-19:
Stay home.
That’s my message to my family, my employees, and to everyone in
my community.
You each have an opportunity to save lives by refraining from pretending
life is normal – it is not. If you insist on living as though nothing
is wrong, you have decided to be part of the problem instead of part of
the solution.
I am not an alarmist. In fact, I am nearly a hopeless optimist but not
today. Today I am sounding an alarm to all of you that the enemy is at
the gates, but you just can’t see them. They are their lurking in
your co-workers, in your healthy looking friends, and in a host of people
you come in contact with in your everyday encounters. We in the United
States enjoy unprecedented constitutional freedoms. When I was 19, I raised
my right hand and joined the
U.S. Army. I swore to defend the country against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.
My sons have likewise sacrificed their young adult lives, and instead
of heading off to college or careers, they have chosen to take that same
oath and serve in the military. Trust me when I say I believe in the freedom
we enjoy as Americans. However, I am asking you to consider an even higher
calling, and that is doing what the Apostle Paul said:
Consider others as more important than yourselves. ~ Philippians 2:3
That, my friends, takes sacrifice. Doing what you want without regard for
others is dangerous and ignorant with this enemy.
Our Chief of Staff,
Dr. Nicholas Stamato, is doing everything humanly possible to help our medical community organize
itself in preparation of seeing this virus widespread in our community.
Campbell County Public Health is doing all they can do to help our community stay healthy. Our
County,
City and
School District officials have taken very appropriate action to encourage all of us to
stay home and only go out when absolutely necessary.
All of us here at Campbell County Health and our medical staff are preparing
for a fight that we hope never comes. As healthcare workers, we are on
the front lines of this fight. You, however, have the power to “flatten
the curve,” which means you are in the fight with us. If the community
doesn’t do its part, it will make the healthcare providers’
and hospital’s fight that much more difficult. It could, in fact,
become so difficult that our system is overwhelmed, and we are put in
a position to make impossibly difficult decisions. We have limited human
resources, limited bed capacity, limited testing capacity, and limited
ventilators.
If we test the limits of this capacity, it could break.
Italy is a good example where it has broken. Just as an example, they have
suspended funerals and cremations because they cannot keep up with the
volume of those who have died from COVID 19. Italy was slow to respond,
and its citizens were slow to appreciate or even believe the scope of
the problem. The last place you want to be in this fight is trying to
play catch up.
You have all no doubt heard that there is currently no vaccine and no vaccine
can be hoped for up to 12-18 months. In terms of a medical vaccine, that
is true; however, there is a vaccine available to each of us, and it is
social and
physical distancing. The fact is, if you do not come into contact with an infected person,
you will not be infected. At the same time, if you are infected, distancing
yourself from others protects them as well. Simple to say, really hard
to do. We are in fact social creatures; it’s the way God created
us. We love being in close contact with others.
For a relatively short period of time, at least in the greater scheme of
our lives, you must each take this vaccine and apply it. Not to do this
is selfish, foolish, and possibly deadly to others. If you want to help
CCH and our medical community with this fight, participate by practicing
social distancing, superior hand hygiene, and calling your primary care
provider if you start to feel symptoms (cough, fever, head or body aches,
sore throat, runny nose).
Join us in this fight, and stay at home.
Andy Fitzgerald, CEO
Campbell County Health