NOTE: THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. YOU SHOULD GET TESTED FOR COVID IF YOU CAN AND FOLLOW NECESSARY TREATMENT. THIS IS A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT AT THIS TIME OF WHAT HAPPENS IF THE SYSTEMS ARE OVERWHELMED. ITS A SCRIBBLE.
I’m thinking through my thoughts out loud – please tell me why this is absurd to even think about.
One of the top ideas that’s out there is to flatten the curve: which means that we should try and load balance to avoid overwhelming our health care system. This includes testing and treatment infrastructure.
One idea I’ve been thinking about given following information / constraints is if anyone
1) under 30 starts seeing any symptoms and
2) are not known to be at-risk, when
3) the country is lacking infrastructure:
COULD it make more sense for them to start following protocol as if they’ve tested postive to manage from home instead of heading to the hospital and keeping beds and testing kits open for older/at-risk folks?
To thinking through whether this a bad idea or not, I’m trying to find the following info / answers / account for these thoughts:
- clearly defined symptoms:
- read about body aches, fever, cough, runny nose, chills, and some more
- what pre-existing conditions make you at-risk?
- find data on mortality / recovery rate for <30 y/o folks
- what happens when you test positive for COVID 19 and you get checked-in to a hospital? what treatment do they follow? when do escalations happen?
- in the countries where they’re turning away people from hospitals, what’s the protocol of things they’re asking you to follow? eg. drink lots of water, stay away from people, take x,y,z medicine which are available off the counter
- by when should you expect to recover? If not recovered by then, how to inform the hospital and get elevated care?
- the template for informing people you’ve been in contact with that you’re taking precautions and self-isolating
- what if this springs people who don’t even have it to start taking precautions and social distance/isolate preemptively?
- will it cause a mass panic / hysteria if people start getting messages from people about their safety?
- what else?
I know a few young people who’ve had the symptoms, tried to get tested last week and couldn’t, went home – slept for a few days, some some fever & cold medicine, plan to stay isolated for 2 weeks, but feel like the worst is gone and are making a full recovery. Now, of course we don’t know if they had it or not, but it’s encouraging that they feel fit enough to stand up again. could young people staying at home even when sick save lives because nearly all of them will recover anyway assuming we have a protocol for when they escalate and head to a hospital?
Update: It looks like the Ohio Government is recommend this policy as well. and here’s a lot of relevant links to this idea.
Symptoms: https:/ /themillennialmind.substack.com/p/what-to-look-for
Varadh 