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    Miami Letter

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    Miami Herald
    This letter is from emergency room doctors, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners in Miami urging the community to take the COVID-19 crisis seriously. They have seen a rapid increase in severe respiratory illnesses and expect confirmed cases to explode once widespread testing is available. While initially thought to mainly impact the elderly and chronically ill, young and healthy people are also becoming severely ill. Strict social distancing is necessary to control the spread of the virus and avoid overwhelming the healthcare system as seen in northern Italy. They ask everyone to minimize social interactions until the epidemic is under control to protect themselves, vulnerable groups, and the healthcare system.

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    Miami Letter

    Uploaded by

    Miami Herald
    156 views3 pages
    This letter is from emergency room doctors, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners in Miami urging the community to take the COVID-19 crisis seriously. They have seen a rapid increase in severe respiratory illnesses and expect confirmed cases to explode once widespread testing is available. While initially thought to mainly impact the elderly and chronically ill, young and healthy people are also becoming severely ill. Strict social distancing is necessary to control the spread of the virus and avoid overwhelming the healthcare system as seen in northern Italy. They ask everyone to minimize social interactions until the epidemic is under control to protect themselves, vulnerable groups, and the healthcare system.

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    This letter is from emergency room doctors, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners in Miami urging the community to take the COVID-19 crisis seriously. They have seen a rapid increase in severe respiratory illnesses and expect confirmed cases to explode once widespread testing is available. While initially thought to mainly impact the elderly and chronically ill, young and healthy people are also becoming severely ill. Strict social distancing is necessary to control the spread of the virus and avoid overwhelming the healthcare system as seen in northern Italy. They ask everyone to minimize social interactions until the epidemic is under control to protect themselves, vulnerable groups, and the healthcare system.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    156 views3 pages

    Miami Letter

    Uploaded by

    Miami Herald
    This letter is from emergency room doctors, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners in Miami urging the community to take the COVID-19 crisis seriously. They have seen a rapid increase in severe respiratory illnesses and expect confirmed cases to explode once widespread testing is available. While initially thought to mainly impact the elderly and chronically ill, young and healthy people are also becoming severely ill. Strict social distancing is necessary to control the spread of the virus and avoid overwhelming the healthcare system as seen in northern Italy. They ask everyone to minimize social interactions until the epidemic is under control to protect themselves, vulnerable groups, and the healthcare system.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    Hello, people of Miami.

    We are your emergency room doctors, physician assistants, and nurse


    practitioners. Most of you have met us, one way or another. We might have cared for you, your
    child, your parent, or someone else you love. We are of all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, and
    political persuasions. Some of us were born here and others have adopted Miami as our home,
    but we are all united in our love for this unique and beautiful city and its diverse population.

    We've never written a letter to you before, but we've never experienced a crisis like the one we
    are currently facing. We are the people who are witnessing first-hand the impact that COVID-19
    is having on people in our community, and we have seen a frighteningly rapid increase in the
    number of people with severe and life-threatening respiratory illnesses coming into our
    emergency rooms. The low number of confirmed cases in published reports does not show the
    true number of people who have been infected by the virus in Miami, or anywhere else in the
    USA for that matter. It only reflects that we are far behind where we should be in testing. All of
    us expect that if and when COVID-19 testing reaches the appropriate levels, the number of
    confirmed cases will explode. What we have seen in the emergency rooms in Miami confirms
    what is being reported from other American cities: young and otherwise healthy people are also
    becoming severely ill from COVID-19. This is not just a problem for the elderly and chronically-
    ill. It is a dangerous threat to all of us.

    One of the most insidious aspects of this epidemic is that it draws strength from people's
    skepticism and feelings of invulnerability. If people need to personally experience COVID-19 by
    having a loved one or close friend infected in order to take this crisis seriously, then it will be too
    late and we will suffer the full brunt of this epidemic. The worst-case scenarios indicate that over
    a million Americans may eventually die of COVID-19 if we are unable to control its spread. We
    have had good fortune not to be the first country to be affected, and we have seen the devastation
    the virus can cause in countries where it spirals out of control. We have also seen that social
    distancing has been very successful in reducing the spread of the virus and the death rate in many
    Asian countries.

    Every close interaction between people creates a risk of virus transmission by microscopic
    droplets that can travel up to six feet from a carrier's nose and mouth. The virus remains alive on
    surfaces for up to three days. It is virtually impossible to avoid being exposed to the virus if one
    comes in contact with a carrier or something they have touched. Since many carriers have no
    symptoms at all, we must avoid all unnecessary contact with EVERYONE that we are not
    currently living with. As difficult as it is, we must learn to live with a minimum of in-person
    social interactions until the epidemic is under control. We are all going to have to sacrifice a
    great deal temporarily for a better future for ourselves and the most vulnerable among us. The
    more determinedly we practice social distancing now, the sooner we can end this epidemic and
    get back to our normal lives. If we choose to ignore the danger and try to live the same way as
    always we risk allowing this epidemic to overwhelm our health care system the way it has in
    northern Italy, with thousands of people dying in hospital hallways without even the comfort of
    having their families nearby.
    We are a large and diverse group of medical professionals. Pretty much the only thing we all see
    eye to eye on is that we want our community to stay as healthy as possible, and we want to see as
    few people as possible needing our services. We have no other agenda, and absolutely no reason
    to mislead you. Please understand and believe that this is the worst health crisis that we who are
    currently living have ever faced. We need every last one of you to do his or her part to help us
    kick this virus out of Miami, out of America, and off our planet forever. Thank you and please
    stay safe and healthy.

    Tanaz Berahman DO, Doctors Hospital and VA Medical Center


    Anna Bogdanova PA-C, South Miami Hospital
    Isabel Brea MD MPH, Kendall Regional Medical Center
    Denise Cabrera MD, Baptist Urgent Care
    Marilyn De Leon DO, Mercy Hospital
    Elaine Diaz DO, Baptist Hospital
    Leonel Diaz DO
    Sarah Eletto DO, University of Miami
    Jody Alan Feldman MD, Doctors Hospital
    Roberto Fernandez DO, Mercy Hospital
    Fausto Henry Fito MD, Baptist Urgent Care
    Antony Friedman MD, Baptist Hospital
    Alexander Garcia MD, Baptist Hospital
    Poopak Ghassemi MD, Baptist Hospital
    Ancizar Gonzalez, P.A.-C, Baptist Urgent Care and South Miami Hospital
    Jose M. Gonzalez MD, Doctors Hospital
    Marisol Gonzalez APRN, Baptist Urgent Care
    Alfredo Hevia MD, Baptist Urgent Care
    Jorge Luis Infante MD, West Kendall Baptist Hospital
    Vivian Isrow MD, Baptist Hospital
    Alan Itzkowitz MD, Baptist Hospital
    Julie Kanter MD MPH, South Miami Hospital
    Rahul S. Karwal MD, Baptist Hospital
    Radha Kotamraju MD, Baptist Hospital
    Danelle Kutner DO, Kendall Regional Medical Center
    Jose F Llach DO, Emergency Department Physician
    Michael Mai MD, Baptist Hospital
    Andrew Mason MD, Baptist Hospital
    Abdul S. Memon DMSc, MPAS, PA-C, Emergent Physicians of South Florida
    Angelique Morris MSN, Kendall Regional Medical Center
    Aniel Navarro-Marin MD, South Miami Hospital and Coral Gables Hospital
    Mario Luis Nunez MD, West Kendall Baptist Hospital
    Johis Ortega APRN, Baptist Hospital
    Swha Patel MD, Baptist Hospital
    Tracey Patricoff MD, South Miami Hospital and West Kendall Baptist Hospital
    David Pick MD, Urgent Care
    Tina Mehrani Plaza PA-C, Kendall Regional Medical Center and Mercy Hospital
    Jessica Sue Silversmith MD, Doctors Hospital and Baptist Hospital of Miami
    Jean-Paul Otazo Sorondo MD, Baptist Hospital
    Brandon Stein MD, Kendall Regional Medical Center
    Dánae W. Sueiro DO, Baptist Hospital
    Tito Suero-Salvador MD
    Maricela Maria Tassy DO, Baptist Hospital and University of Miami
    Philip C. Weimer MD, Baptist Urgent Care
    Joshua B. Young MD, South Miami Hospital

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