- Despite the fact that coronavirus cases are on the decline in many places, one doctor has revealed that there are still several places she would never go right now because of the ongoing pandemic.
- They include places like bars, gyms, and going on vacation.
- According to Johns Hopkins University, global coronavirus cases have just topped 24 million.
The US has sorely needed some good news related to the coronavirus pandemic for a while now, and it looks like it’s finally starting to materialize. As we noted yesterday, for example, the number of new daily coronavirus cases in the US has fallen since July 22 from a peak of about 70,000 to about 42,600 new infections per day. That’s according to a CNBC analysis of the seven-day average of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. And on the coronavirus vaccine front, Moderna has said its vaccine candidate has shown promising results — the company said the vaccine has produced neutralizing antibodies in older adults that it’s been tried on.
Nevertheless, the reminder that has to be re-stressed at this point is that we’re still very much in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such that one doctor has warned that so many things we associate with normal, everyday life — everything from flying on an airplane to eating inside a restaurant — are still probably not all that safe right now.
Dr. Deborah Lee, formerly with the UK’s National Health Service, now writes extensively online about health and medical issues. She told one news site in recent days that there are five places/activities she doesn’t feel comfortable visiting or engaging in right now. They include:
Going on vacation. This means leaving home to go anywhere on vacation right now. Her family, in fact, canceled all of its holiday plans for the rest of the year back in March. “At present,” she writes, the UK advises against all but essential travel to the USA, and the USA advises against all but non-essential travel to the UK! So, I guess you and I will not be seeing each other soon.”
Bars/nightclubs. Lee is explicit — visiting this kind of place is one of the riskiest things you can do right now, as she puts it. Partly because of the lack of uniformity in how rules relating to wearing face masks and social distancing are enforced. One location might be lax, while another follows the rules perfectly.
Gyms. These are another no-go, Lee writes, partly because they’re an environment’s that often warm, with moisture in the air. Perfect conditions, in other words, for spreading the coronavirus.
Ballroom dancing. Not that most of us were probably to do this anytime soon, but Lee (who admits to loving ballroom and Latin dancing) says this is another activity that’s too high-risk to engage in right now. Moreover, she points to a letter published earlier this month in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, which noted a cluster of COVID-19 cases that have been linked to a dance school in South Korea.
Doctor visit. If she wasn’t facing some kind of medical emergency, Lee says she wouldn’t hesitate to call an ambulance. Otherwise, she’s postponing medical visits that aren’t time-sensitive and can be done a bit later. Treating COVID-19 patients is the priority. “If you attend with a non-COVID related problem, you should be seen in a ‘clean area,’ or better still at a ‘clean site,'” Lee writes. “Medical staff seeing COVID-19 patients are kept away from patients who are not thought to be infected.”
