Counterintuitive as it is, the message “when you’re sick, don’t go to the doctor” has the potential to limit COVID-19 spread. It has occasionally eked its way into public health statements. Unfortunately, the message is not getting to the public, as evidenced by Utah’s first case of COVID diagnosed within our borders.
In a recent Tribune article, you reinforce other general infection control behaviors (thank you!), but the option of telehealth and staying out of a medical waiting room is mentioned as an afterthought at the end of the article.
Frankly, as numbers rise, I would rather be on a plane with people who know they shouldn’t be traveling if they are sick, than a doctors waiting room concentrated with people with respiratory viruses. This is especially so given COVID’s potential to mimic a “nothing cold.”
Hopefully the department of health, media, and our large health organizations will join to spearhead a more robust public education campaign. It can make a difference in how bad this gets.
Elwood Longenecker, MD, South Jordan
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