I work in home healthcare as a physical therapist. When the pandemic started and the states were shutting down, we were told to screen our patients and not go to homes if people had any symptoms. We were told not to report to work if we had any symptoms. We were told not to wear masks, even cloth masks unless we felt we needed to and then we could use our own. Eventually, due to the limit in PPE, we were given a few procedural/surgical masks and 1 N-95 mask. We had no gowns, minimal gloves, and no goggles or face shields. This was scary. We had no idea what or how contagious this disease was. I felt like the disease was everywhere and I was one wrong turn away from catching it and coming close to death. Patient’s were cancelling on us right and left asking us not to come to their homes. Our business dropped and I went from 6-8 patients a day to 1-2 patients a day and then down to 3-4 patients a day only 2-3 days a week. This is tough when you are only paid for the visits you do, which was the case in the company I was working for at the time. This drop was due to people’s fear of going to the hospital or their doctor which limited our referrals as we rely on these institutions to provide us with referrals. I made too much each week to qualify for unemployment benefits and I made too little to pay my bills. I was panicking and so were my other co-workers and this is when we were questioning whether or not we were really essential. Do people really need physical, occupational and speech therapy this badly? Why can’t our company just pay us to stay home to save us and our patients? What in the hell is going on??? Fortunately, this feeling faded and a new normal was established. We wear masks, face shields and gloves. We are not longer worried about PPE. We were gowns when it’s required and I don’t feel so scared anymore.
99% of our patients in home health care are high risk patients with them being 70+ and having multiple co-morbidities (obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease, stroke, cancer, etc). Most of our patients do not leave the home and have not left except if absolutely necessary due to fear of contracting COVID. A lot of these folks would not even go to the hospital, even if it was an emergency, because they were more afraid of contracting COVID and dying. I have had patients comment on how important they feel it is for people to wear masks and stay home! They have family members that they will not allow to visit because they do not believe this disease is serious. They believe it’s just like the flu and they don’t need to wear a mask, this is a hoax made up by the democrats to ruin trumps re-election, this virus is going to go away when the election is over, this virus is not that contagious, they don’t want their rights violated by being forced to wear a mask, masks don’t work etc. These patients are alone, scared, and fearful of dying before they feel it’s their time. They DO NOT want this virus and DO NOT want anyone around them who could potentially expose them. They are locked up in skilled nursing, assisted living and independent living facilities and they are locked up in their homes. Is wearing a mask really that difficult if it means your loved one can actually leave their home?
Do masks really work? They aren’t perfect, but they reduce your risk…..
I am a healthcare worker. I wear a mask everywhere I go as it’s become a way of life. The falsehoods being spread my social media and radical news networks needs to stop. People need to listen to science and experts and stop listening to conspiracy theorists when it comes to health related information. People need to fact check their research and make sure it is from a reputable source and stop trusting these poor excuses for human beings. Think about someone else besides yourself for one minute. Talk to someone who has been in the hospital with COVID or a healthcare worker who has been on the front lines with these patients. Look at the comparison of FLU vs COVID 19. Understand that this is NOT the flu because we currently have a tested vaccine for the flu (which is still not always perfect and causes thousands of deaths a year). We are just now getting a vaccine for COVID. It’s going to take time to get enough people vaccinated to slow this down. Please, be mindful of others. The Flu and COVID traveling around together are not a good combination. Masks not only protect you from COVID, but they are a pretty solid defense against the FLU.
UPDATE: I recently blocked a comment by someone who posted a “scientific” link about why masks don’t work. Saying that places with high spread of COVID are very compliant with masks. However, the fine print at the bottom of this link says “the content of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statements in this article”. What peer reviewed, accurate scientific article/website says this?
Here are some links to scientifically backed articles on why masks work in conjunction with social distances and good hand hygiene. NOBODY is saying masks are the end all be all of stopping the spread of COVID-19. The only mask that can truly stop the spread of COVID 19 is a N95 that has been fit tested to you and allows zero particles in. However, as the image above shows, imagine if you are not wearing anything at all and you get coughed on by someone with COVID who also is not wearing anything. But if you are both wearing a mask, even if you’re not 6′ apart, you are safer than if you aren’t. If your not going to do it for yourself, STOP BEING SELFISH, then think about others! If you can’t be kind enough to protect others, then stay home!
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/masking-science-sars-cov2.html
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