What do you need to know about the coronavirus? UChicago Prof. Emily Landon COVID-19 Message

Hi, I'm Emily Landon. I am an adult infectious diseases physician at the University of Chicago Medicine. And I'm the hospital's epidemiologist. I am leading our medical response to COVID-19. And today I'll answer some of your questions and talk more about

what

this means for you. The

coronavirus

we face in this global pandemic is not that bad for otherwise healthy people and especially for young people. Almost all young and healthy people will be fine, even after they get sick. So it can be a little confusing as to why we're shutting everything down and sending everyone home for e-learning and why hospitals are taking such drastic measures.

The important thing to

know

is that while it may be fine for most people, there are a small number of people (about 15% of people who get sick) who will

need

additional medical care. Of those, another small percentage of that number will

need

critical resources, such as a ventilator and other intensive care services in hospitals. And although it may seem like a small number, when the entire population is susceptible to this disease and any number of us could get sick, it is important to remember that our hospitals are not really prepared to care for 10% or 15% of the population. the entire population at the same time.

That is why we need to stop the spread of this disease. And the important thing is that even healthy young people, who will feel relatively well, maybe with a cough and a fever, could stay home for a couple of days and then go out and hang out with their friends. or go to work. They will be able to transmit it during that time. And they can even transmit it before they feel completely sick. And that means we have to act proactively. You have to stay home now. And we have to avoid contact with many other people, so that if one gets sick later, fewer people will have been exposed and fewer people will get sick.

Those of you who study some mathematics will

know

that if each person who is sick infects three more people and that continues, it will not take long before we can maximize our capacity in hospitals. You must do your part to protect everyone else. It's important to keep that in perspective. This is not the kind of pandemic that will kill us all. And we don't need to be scared about it, but we do need to take very serious steps to change the way we behave and live. We don't have a vaccine. And we don't have antivirals. Therefore, we will not be able to use those tools simply to help protect the most vulnerable among us.

Instead, the only tool we have is for you to stay away from other people. I know it seems a little remote to imagine that your behavior, going out on campus or hanging out with your friends is going to affect a nursing home across town, but we are all connected. And it's important, really important, that you take this idea and this advice seriously and do everything you can. Obviously, I'm not saying to socially isolate yourself to become completely depressed. In fact, you should still talk to your friends; do it electronically when you can. See some people from time to time in very small groups.

Go out and have a. Take a walk: There's no better place for germs than sunlight and fresh air. Just don't stay with a group of people in a closed, closed space. Yes, we all have to accept that we are going to have some contacts with other people in our lives, right? I have a son at home. And we have some close friends who live next door to us in our building. And we're kind of a small team. If one of us gets sick, we have already accepted that most of us will get sick. But as long as we keep infections within that closed group, we will do our part to help prevent the spread to other people.

So if someone is sick in her building or in her room, she should be careful. First of all, someone sicker in a building you live in who isn't close to you and who doesn't live in your building isn't really that big of a risk to you, especially if you follow the instructions on how to wash your hands. , clean and wipe things down and use hand sanitizer. Don't touch those elevator buttons with your fingers. Use your elbow. Don't shake people's hands. Those are things you can do to help reduce the risk of those types of casual contacts in your general vicinity.

Now, people who live near you, if you all live in the same place, it is very possible that if you get sick, others will too. If you are vulnerable in some way due to your health condition, then you may want to reconsider your living situation, talk to people you can reach about this situation, talk to your doctor, talk to your parents, talk to your counselors. and your residency advisors. This is how you will solve the situation. If someone gets sick, the best thing to do is follow the guidelines on the CDC website for

what

to do if someone gets sick in your home.

Just because one person is sick does not surely mean that everyone else has to get sick. And there are steps you can take to help protect yourself and others who live in that area. Go to cdc.gov and look up how to care for someone who is sick in my home. Everyone is asking how long we will have to do this. And I wish I had a good answer for you. Unfortunately, the answer is: the longer the better. And the less dramatic everything is in the hospitals and on the news, the better it will be for all of us.

The best outcome here is that we all stay home for a long time (much longer than we thought we would have to stay) and nothing big and important happens. If you find that when this is all over, you feel like why did I have to stay inside? Why did we have to do this where we did e-learning? We should have stayed at school, it all worked out. That way you'll know it was the right thing to do. If we wait until things are out of control to start taking action, such as closing bars, schools or turning to e-learning, it will already be too late.

We have already overwhelmed our hospitals. And that won't help anyone. At this point, we still have a chance to slow the spread. We are not holding anything back. A lot of people will still get sick, but if we extend it longer and take these social distancing measures, it will be really disruptive, really difficult, and completely different than anything you've ever done in your life. before, but it will really help. Fewer people will die. Fewer people will have bad outcomes. And we will all be better off for it.