Written 12/23/20
One of the hardest aspects of the pandemic of 2020 is how it has toyed with our hopes. I am not talking about the eternal hope of the Christian. “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts,” says Romans 5:5. That hope is unshakable, so long as it is rooted in the sovereign God. That is important to remember.
But our expectations have certainly been led on a merry chase this year. Initially we held out hope that the virus would never really arrive on our shores. Instead, it landed like an invasion. In the spring we hoped that strict (and temporary) mitigation strategies like social distancing and masking would defeat the pandemic. This barrage appeared to flatten the curve. Then the virus charged back with guns blazing.
Later in summer, reports of new treatments sent our spirits soaring. Most of these promising treatments have struck glancing blows at best against the virus. By now we have ridden enough waves that we have a culture-wide case of whiplash. The pandemic has not so much unfolded, as it has undulated, waging a war on our morale and our health with surges, retreats, and counterattacks.
A New Chapter
Once again the warnings are back. The cases are rising. Hospitals are brimming. Haven’t we been here before? Is anything different this time? I believe there are two major differences in the pandemic at this juncture.
- First, following the upcoming holiday gatherings, there is the potential for dire times ahead in terms of sickness and death from COVID-19 on a scale we have not seen. I base this less on national reports than on my personal experience with my own practice and hospital. I have been seeing numerous cases of COVID contracted at Thanksgiving. Christmas may be worse. (See my last post “I’ll Have a ZOOM Christmas Without You – Part 1.”)
- Secondly, this time there really is a light at the end of the tunnel. Now we are not just holed up in our bunkers, while employing mitigation strategies or anemic treatments and hoping that the virus will go away. The next few weeks, even months, may involve bloody battles with the infection, but overall, thanks to the advent of the vaccine, there is an end in sight in this war. Victory is at hand!
So I am writing to encourage you to hang on. Help is on the way. But for that very reason, now is not the time to relax. This expectation is all the more reason to take precautions against getting (and for people like me, who work among the most vulnerable, giving) the infection.
The Last Patrol
“The Last Patrol” is an episode in the World War II mini-series Band of Brothers. The events take place in Germany late in the war, when an allied victory appears inevitable, and the end is approaching. The battle-weary soldiers of Easy Company are sent on a dangerous, but unnecessary, mission behind enemy lines to capture German prisoners.
The veteran soldiers, who are risking their lives, bitterly resent that the mission serves no strategic value in the war, but is simply a vanity project for high ranking brass, who stay safely behind. During the mission, a young private dies. The following night, when Easy Company is ordered to repeat their ill-advised patrol, the lieutenant instructs his men to stay in bed, refusing to risk their lives.
A Time for Everything
I’m not encouraging dereliction of duty. If you have essential work to do (whether personal, professional or otherwise), then do not neglect it. I’m not advocating for deception. But as I look around at my war weary brothers in medicine, I would encourage all of us to think about avoidable risk.
In my opinion the war will soon be over and we will have victory over the coronavirus. Any loss of life is unfortunate, but as “The Last Patrol” suggests, there is something particularly tragic and meaningless about those who lose their lives unnecessarily. Have you considered that in every war, there is always a last person to die? In some cases there are even soldiers who are killed after an armistice has been reached. Somehow these deaths can cause even greater heartache.
Let’s all keep doing our duty. Let’s fight the coronavirus. Let’s care for each other. Let’s keep essential businesses open and keep the economy open as much as possible. But don’t take unnecessary risk. Don’t stick your head out of the fox hole on the eve of a cease-fire if you don’t have to.
Consider delaying indoor get-togethers with large numbers of people. Have a Zoom Christmas without the usual multitude. Think about how we can celebrate together in a few months and how sweet that will be! Hold on a bit longer. Doesn’t a big Christmas or New Year’s get-together in July sound like fun?
Dr. Bill Maynard