A Plea From NYC Physicians: Our Window of Opportunity is Closing to Avoid Italy's Fate
Dr. Akash Goel for The Hill
March 20, 2020
Following is an excerpt of the op-ed co-authored by Asia 21 Young Leader Dr. Akash Goel ('13), originally published in The Hill.
We are two New York City physicians and public health advocates and are pleading with our municipal, state and federal leaders to take drastic public health measures to save lives. The house is on fire, and this is the alarm bell.
The view from the frontlines is grim. Our health systems locally and nationwide are already dangerously stretched thin in terms of staff, protective equipment, ventilators, intensive care and isolation beds. By even the most generous estimates, given current rates of transmission, we do not see any possible way to continue to operate within the fundamental bottlenecks of ICU and equipment capacity. This system shock alone will lead to unnecessary and preventable deaths unless we act now. But our clinical toolkit for this disease is fundamentally limited even if these needs are met. This is why, to both prevent overburdening our health system and to save the most lives, we must direct attention, political courage and resources to dramatically halting transmission.
Without comprehensive action, we are in imminent danger of replicating Italy’s experience not only in New York but also nationwide. Saving the most lives requires the following urgent action.