Covid-19 Over-Kill

Like many of you, I’m feeling the news coverage tracking Covid-19 information essential and much needed but oppressive at times. The intensity of life and death struggles played out visually in real-time can be emotionally draining – so many heart-wrenching personal narratives wreaking havoc on our stress levels. Yet, our innate human impulse compels us to inquire, share news events and “stay woke” as we should, in order to protect ourselves and loved ones.

It starts with first protecting oneself. I’ve recently read an article in the New York Times about how the City’s hospital admission process for Covid -19 has two tiers. Those with full-blown symptoms are being fast-tracked towards treatment geared to palliative care with less probability of recovery. Those patients’ chance of receiving longer periods on ventilators is limited due to high demand and limited supply. Thus, medical staff and attending physicians must decide who, after triage, is fast-tracked into palliative-care and soon after referred to hospice care.

These daily, escalated life and death decisions have impacted normal funeral protocols, necessitating speedy burials and families opting for closure confined to private burials or cremations. Social distancing measures limit mourners basically to immediate family members, with planned memorials in view instead of full-scale traditional funerals.

These indeed are unpleasant conversations many will face in the course of Covid-19’s silent wrath. Nonetheless, our reality is being shaped by circumstances each person must consider going forward until we defeat this deadly viral interloper. The process from diagnosis to prognosis can take a tremendous toll on one’s mental equilibrium both subtly and overtly in some cases.

To create a fire-wall against ever-building stress, I, for one, plan to limit my news intake to print media and to significantly reduce Facebook online consumption, while creating heightened opportunities for quiet time, meditation, and leisure reading as I focus on new music and hope to summon a reservoir of creativity. And by God’s grace together taking needed CDC health alert precautions together we will survive this pandemic. My prayer is for my friends, loved ones, and our world to find a measure of peace and comfort in our path to restored good health as we overcome this challenging season in our personal and national lives. We are living through an unprecedented public health crisis likely to alter our world in unforeseen ways.