3,000 new cases reported on Oct . 14 and opened an emergency field hospital outside Milwaukee . That was two days before the next scheduled appearance by President Trump for a rally In Janesville , which is the main catchment hospital for COVID-19 patients in Dodge County . I can only imagine its occupancy rate two weeks later , and the fear , the risk and the strain for all of its staff .
Various scientists have said ( with way more hope than fact ) that herd immunity - the protection of the masses by previous mass inoculation or infection - can be achieved with only 20-30 % of the population previously infected . Nearly all other infectious disease / virology / public health scientists vehemently disagree . Years of epidemiological observations have repeatedly shown that more than 80 % of us have to be immune to avoid the spread of disease to the non-vaccinated .
The term “ herd immunity ” was first used for livestock . I love cows , but I ’ m a biped . If upwards of 3 million of me have to die - and that is a conservative estimate , with some scientists predicting double that - to allow people to go back to before , that ’ s reaching Holocaust proportions . That ’ s killing off up to 6 million Americans more , so the survivors can resume their lives and the stock markets
will flourish . Already , Americans have died from COVID-19 at a rate per capita that is on average 50 % higher than in other countries ( JAMA Oct 2020 ). Even higher is our per capita excess death rate : 85 % higher than in Germany and 29 % higher than in Sweden , a country that tried to ignore COVID-19 and asked its citizens for prudence only , without lockdowns . And will any of the survivors of COVID-19 ever be insurable again , if the Affordable Care Act is struck down ?
I would remind Dr . Scott Atlas , the MD signees of this Great Barrington Hoax and various TV doctors who assure us that things are not this bad : 223,000 people have died already . Many thousands more have not fully recovered . You spoke the Hippocratic Oath . You vowed to “ do no harm .” You vowed to serve and protect your patient .
Promoting policies that could kill many millions mocks that oath and ruins your scientific credibility . Worse , it encourages the ill-informed to relax any vigilance they may have practiced . Their deaths will be upon your heads .
Don ’ t Herd on Us .
DOCTORS ' LOUNGE
Dr . Barry is an internist and Associate Professor of Medicine ( Gratis Faculty ) at the University of Louisville School of Medicine , currently taking a six-month sabbatical .
LETTER TO THE EDITOR AUTHOR Wayne B . Tuckson , MD
Dear Editor ,
I wish to comment on an opinion piece written by Frank G . Simon , MD , “ Does Truth Matter ,” published in the September 2020 issue of Louisville Medicine .
My colleague wrote in response to articles written by Ariel Carpenter , MD , “ Why Pediatricians Are Called to be Leaders in Anti-Racism ,” Amber Pendleton , MD and Faye Jones , MD , “ Racism : A Child Health Crisis ,” and Dr . Lewis Hargett ’ s “ Black Lives Do Matter ” that were in the August issue . I surmise that editors and staff of Louisville Medicine selected the above pieces to inform its readership of those factors that have contributed to the poorer health outcomes of Blacks , compared to that of whites in our community , during the COVID-19 pandemic . It saddens me that all did not appreciate this effort . I applaud the scholarship of the other authors .
The experience of Blacks during prior epidemics has not been stellar . During the 1783 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia , 10 % of the population died and those with means , wealthy whites and physicians , fled the city . The essential workers of the day , both free Blacks and enslaved Blacks , were told to stay behind and work caring for the sick because “ they were immune to yellow fever .”
The polio epidemic in the US was devastating in white communities , but not addressed in the Black community . In fact , it was said that Blacks were “ immune ” and therefore were excluded from treatment , including at Franklin D . Roosevelt ’ s Hot Springs . It wasn ’ t until many years later that Black health workers and physicians were taught how to care for these patients , and told they would benefit from the March of Dimes program .
There is a long list of scholarly publications , perhaps a bit more robust than those cited by my colleague Dr . Simon , that addresses the issues of disparity . These include the 1985 Heckler , which concluded that if Blacks had the same health services as whites , the mortality rates would be equal . The 2003 Institute of Medicine report , Unequal Treatment , said that racial and ethnic minorities experience a lower quality of health services , and are less likely to receive even
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