We are at war. Our enemy is invisible - SARS-CoV-2a - a virus that has not previously attacked mankind. From a reservoir in bats, the virus jumped to a mammalian intermediary before attacking our species, causing the disease COVID-19. The virus may be inhaled in infected droplets from a cough, sneeze or close contact with an infected person or acquired from a surface onto which droplets have fallen.
Once in the body, SARS-CoV-2 enters a cell, hijacks its genetic apparatus and quickly produces countless copies before the host cell dies, thereby spewing viruses into the bloodstream to attack other cells. One to two weeks may elapse before fever and cough develop. The virus may be shed into the environment during this interval. No curative medication exists. Most victims will recover uneventfully. Fifteen percent of victims develop pneumonia, many requiring respiratory support in an intensive care unit. About 1% to 2% of victims die.
We have neither a cure nor a vaccine to deploy. Only by tightly limiting personal contacts can the spread of this highly contagious disease be limited.
In previous wars, we depended upon unified, national policy and actions to raise armies and to provide them with all the materials they needed to win.
In this war, our frontline defenders are health care professionals, including nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, laboratory technologists and the staff who clean and sterilize hospital facilities and equipment. Every time they report for duty, they place their lives in jeopardy. Unfortunately, many of our defenders lack proper protective equipment. In some settings, hospital staff must reuse protective gear that should have been discarded.
Imagine sending traditional warriors into battle with inadequate equipment: insufficient helmet, body armor or weapons.
Our health care defenders do not have adequate numbers of tools to manage their patients. Ventilators are critical in the management of patients whose lungs have been invaded by the virus. Federal supplies are grossly inadequate.
The Defense Production Act of 1950 authorizes the president to compel industry to produce equipment needed for a war effort. Delay in implementing DPA has resulted in states and municipalities scrambling to obtain ventilators and other critical supplies, sometimes engaging in bidding competitions that drive prices upward. What if World War II had depended upon individual states to form and to supply military units?
On March 27, the president invoked the DPA to direct production of ventilators by General Motors. Personal protective equipment was not mentioned.
If our health care workers and the facilities which they manage are to be protected from overwhelming numbers of patients, civilian authorities must enforce uniform protocols that limit person-to-person contact outside hospitals. All large gatherings must be prohibited, including religious services. In the absence of clear guidance from Washington, individual states, cities and counties have devised and enforced restrictions on public interactions. Sadly, some state governors seem willfully ignorant of the dangers posed by person-to-person contacts.
We need accurate, scientific updates on the pandemic. Instead, the rambling, daily briefings from the White House spread disinformation, which scientists must correct. Attacks on media and critics are commonplace in these politicized events.
This war will likely last for months. The virus may subside and then return in a second wave later in the year. Intensive research may yield a treatment. A vaccine might become available in a year. In the meantime, unity of purpose and respect for every human being are vital in our fight against this deadly enemy.
Contact Clif Cleaveland at ccleaveland@timesfreepress.com.
Dr. Cliff Cleaveland / Staff file photo