No doubt, the current health crisis has has brought questions in the minds of many – and he’s no different – being in United States – the hotbed of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is all by himself in his room for nearly a month now.
When I read about United States in the news, Channa (as we call him) always came to my mind. I asked him how he was doing and his views on the current pandemic (he is a public health professional).
Dr. Ralte has done his MBBS from Gandhi Medical College Bhopal, Masters in Public Health from SCTIMST Trivandrum He is Public Health Physician at Presbyterian Hospital Durtlang Aizawl, pursuing a fellowship in substance abuse at Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond Virginia (US Govt. Fulbright – Humphrey Scholarship Program)
His views…
On how badly the COVID-19 pandemic has affected United States and what measures the Govt. is taking.
What we see on the TV is proof enough of how bad the situation in the US is right now. But we also need to focus on whatever good news that there is like the huge number of patients that are discharged every day from hospitals, that not all states are as affected as say California or New York etc.
The Government/CDC’s message is mainly – social distancing (6 feet/ 2 meters), no social gathering of 10 or more people, washing hands etc, which we are all familiar with by now. These are crucial not only in the US but everywhere, as there are no vaccines/medicines to treat the condition as of now.
The President is blamed for acting too late, being comfortable way too long. One the other side, it is said, these are hard times for any country leader, having to weigh between people’s lives and economy.
Essential services are still open which includes grocery stores, where you can buy all kinds of food products. So are restaurants, but we are only allowed to buy ‘take aways’, order online before going etc. Pharmacies are usually part of groceries as well. Here in the US, grocery stores are like one place stop for almost everything. Besides this, pretty much, everything else is closed – cinema halls, bowling alleys, shopping malls, theaters.
I went grocery shopping last week. Food stock looked great as of now, at least where I live in. Check-out counters now have glass partition and there was a circle drawn on the floor to queue at a distance of 6 feet each to maintain social distancing. But then even before, being in queue was already a way of life here along with social distancing. Americans love personal space.
On what keeps him going…Today is day 19th(4th April) in solitude here at the University. Life here, even before the pandemic, was quiet and very independent. But it has become as quiet as quiet can be. Our university campus/Richmond is like a ghost town. Now it’s only a few international students who are here as all American/US students were asked to go home during spring break, around 3 weeks ago.
My determination to complete my fellowship program, even though at times, I question myself why I am still here. The Fulbright program is one of the toughest to get into; I am one of the 4 Indians selected for 2019-20 for the Humphrey fellowship. It’s only through God’s perfect will that I got selected and I am clinging on to that even in times likes this.
“…at times, I question myself why I am still here.”
Everything is on the virtual platform now. Infact, I just had a 4 hour lecture class with breaks in between for my spring semester on ‘Psychological treatment of addiction’. Universities are very online savvy here, so the transition has not been a problem so far. The fact that, internet connections are super-fast helps a lot. However, one to one patient interactions, for psychotherapy, are on a standby due to obvious reasons. On concerns related to the pandemic
There are concerns regarding food, even though the Government has time and again given us their assurance. Media has reported increase gun sales in certain states. That is another concern. And it does not help for us Asian looking group of people when the President drop words like ‘Chinese Virus’ at his press conference. Substance abuse – alcohol/oipiods/marijuana, increase use is a great concern as well coupled with depression and PTSD (especially among health care workers)
“it does not help for us Asian looking group of people when the President drop words like ‘Chinese Virus’ at his press conference”
It’s encouraging to see how the US President is slowly but steadily relying on public health experts like DrAnthony Fauci and Dr DeborahBirx, who are part of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Reliance on scientific evidence based Disease modelling projection by IHME, University of Washington is what the Government is looking at, to plan ahead for number of beds/ventilator needed, when the disease will hit its peak and then slope down etc. At times like this, it is crucial to look at things from public health experts/epidemiologists point of view, and I feel the US President is starting to head in the right direction. I am extremely hopeful and optimistic that there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
They say, more test, more case. When it comes to India, who I am rooting for, I take solace in the fact that so far hospitals all over the country are not yet overwhelmed with patients. Looking at the disease trajectory and duration of lockdown, one would think, by now hospitals must be overflowing with patients in need of ICU/ventilator. It must have been very difficult for our Prime Minister to lockdown the whole country, but it also made sense considering our idea about queueing, social distance etc.
Lets continue to social distance, wash hands, follow our Government guidelines and Pray to God more than ever.
