In the last video, I described how the United States has failed to control the COVID-19 epidemic. Being an optimist, I believe we can do better. To achieve our goal, we need to answer a key question. Can our democracy faithfully implement well-established infection control tools? Unfortunately, a shelter in place ended. There was no central coordination of efforts. Public health and government institutions fail to encourage and train people on the proper infection control. In fact, many people believed the epidemic is a hoax and claimed experts are lying to them. This represents a classic example of disinformation. Please watch the video addressing the dangers of disinformation in module 2. Because of these conditions, large numbers of cases make testing, contact tracing and isolation strategy nearly impossible to implement. We can't simply sit there and shake our heads. We all need to be part of the solution by leading. Now that you understand the problem as health care professionals and concerned citizens, you must lead the charge and apply organizing methods to charge everyone to faithfully follow the tactics required to drop our subzero below one. We need to encourage five activities. Wear a face mask, avoid closed public spaces, maintain six foot physical distancing, avoid crowds, and practice good hand hygiene. First, we all need to wear face mask in any enclosed public spaces. The evidence for their effectiveness is overwhelming. But seeing is believing. The scientists, in this letter from the New England Journal used laser light source, to show how droplets spew from your mouth even when you are talking softly. You will note the dramatic change when the mask is worn. Stay healthy. Great. Stay healthy. Great. Less loud. Stay healthy. Good. Are you recording? Yeah. Stay healthy. Louder. Stay healthy. Louder. Stay healthy. Nothing. High concentrations of the omicron variant virus in aerosols N-95 or K-95 mask are required. Cloth masks and even disposable surgical mask are not as effective and are no longer recommended. The best protection against inspiring infected aerosols is achieved if everyone wears an N-95 or K-95 mask. Remember the saying, I wear a mask to protect you, and you wear a mask to protect me. Wearing a mask shows that you care about others in your community. You should heed the advice of Pope Francis, during his first public meeting since the onset of the pandemic, he warned against reverting back to individualism once the crisis fades, we all need to worry about each other's welfare. If worn religiously in public. We can continue to work, go to some commercial venues and still drop the R sub zero to less than one. Two avoid small closed, unventilated spaces. Larger closed spaces are better, and outdoors is the best. This graph shows the relationship between space and ventilation with regards to the risk of being exposed to droplets. Whenever possible, enjoy the outdoors. If you go to a restaurant, sit in an outdoor table. Finally, the longer you remain in a high risk environment, the more likely you are to become infected. In general, avoid close contact for more than 10 minutes. Minimize being in public places. We have this plaque in our home. As never before, there is no place like home. Three, maintain a six foot distance from others whenever possible, because droplets drop to the ground by this distance, two arm lengths is a good guideline for maintaining this distance and be prepared to put on your mask if someone breaks into your protective zone. For the omicron variant, which is spread primarily by aerosol, six foot distancing is not as effective. When indoors, mask should always be worn. Four avoid large crowds whenever possible. Because the more people, the more likely there will be someone in that crowd who has an asymptomatic carrier or even a super spreader. In most cases, when disease spread is high, try to keep the number to below 10 people. Five. Finally, practice good hand hygiene. However, to date, spread from surfaces and hand eyes have not been reported. Remember, this is a campaign, but also remember we can no longer gather physically. We did use virtual campaign approaches. First share personal stories of patients who are suffering from COVID-19. Remember the physician and the respiratory therapists both who required mechanical ventilation and almost died. Share personal cases from the US, Europe, and the rest of the world. Find other like-minded champions using one-on-one communication. Write editorials, speak to your friends and talk to our leaders. Post on social media and share the YouTube links I've included in the campaign packet that is part of module 2. Hold virtual events to recruit others. We are all in this together. As never before, the world is an interconnected community, our individual behavior impacts many others. Finally, remember, armed with the knowledge and understanding from this course, you too can make a difference. Thank you.
