James interviews his cousin, Dr. Evan Shih, a 3rd year resident working in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a Los Angeles hospital.
DISCLAIMER: All statements made by the interviewee in this interview are of his own opinion. All the views expressed in this interview are made in a personal capacity and do not represent the views of the University of California Los Angeles or any such institutions.
Evan shares his first-hand experience helping patients with the virus and some insight into COVID-19. See a list of questions below that Evan has answered as best he can. Evan dispels some misinformation propagating on social media and mainstream media. That said, although Evan is a medical professional, he is not an expert in the novel coronavirus and information about the disease and treatments are changing daily. Stay informed and consult your primary care physician if you feel you may be infected.
If you're healthy, consider donating blood or platelets, there's currently a national shortage. Check out: https://www.redcross.org/give-blood.html
If you have any Personal Protection Equipment that you're not using (such as face masks, eye protection, etc), please consider donating your supplies to the UCLA Medical Center by emailing the address here:
[email protected]
...or donating to your local hospital.
If you'd like to donate funds to help support UCLA medical professionals, please go to this link here:
https://spark.ucla.edu/project/20587
New England Journal of Medicine for reference:
https://www.nejm.org/coronavirus
Surfaces: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973
Testing for COVID-19
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/testing.html
List of questions covered:
- What’s the clinical term for the virus? A: COVID-19, Sars-CoV-2
- Is the UCLA/Los Angeles medical community equipped to meet this challenge? A: For now.
- Can COVID-19 live on clothes for hours? A: Most likely. Yes for surfaces (live up to days, see NEJM link above). Watch out for elevator buttons.
- Where should we get tested? A: Consult your primary doctor. See CDC link above.
- Are they expediting testing for at-risk people? A: Not sure.
- How likely is re-infection or immunity after getting the virus? A: Inconclusive.
- Long term effects? A: Inconclusive.
- Effective treatments? A: In development.
- Any supplements, foods, that can help prevent or combat coronavirus? A: Inconclusive. A healthy diet is generally recommended.
- Are chloroquine or plaquenil effective treatments? A: Inconclusive. There's a shortage for plaquenil where it is a proven treatment (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis) due to COVID.
- What is some misinformation that people should be aware of? A: Be wary of "proven treatments" from an unverified source.
- What percentage of the population will probably get the coronavirus? A: 40-70% possibly.
- What are best practices the public should adhere to help stop the spread of the disease? A: Wash your hands, social distancing.
- Are face masks effective? A: Yes.
- What are some ways the community can help support their local hospitals? A: Donate! See links above.
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LANGUAGE CORNER
Mandarin: 疫情 - yìqíng - epidemic
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