In Colorado, Dr. Matthew Wynia, a bioethicist and infectious disease doctor, is working on a plan that would also assign a score. In his rubric, the first considerations are odds of survival and expected length of treatment. ... “One thing everyone agrees on is that the most morally defensible way to decide would be to ask the patients,” Dr. Wynia said.
“(I’m) impressed and humbled by the people that have responded. I think that it really shows the dedication of our future health professionals,” Halea Meese, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine said. Meese and another student, Jake Fox, helped organize hundreds of volunteers after they received a call from the governor’s office asking students to assist with triaging hotline phone calls from people with questions about COVID-19.
"You always want to go ahead and make a vaccine to a virus that is this deadly because guaranteed, we are going to see it again on this planet," said David Kroll, PhD and professor of pharmacology, at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. "
I need to go to the grocery store. How do I do that in a way that's safest for me and others? This counts as an essential trip, of course. But try going to the grocery store during off-peak hours, when it's less likely to be crowded, says Dr. Sean O' Leary, an assistant professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Dr. Lee Newman, an expert in epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, was asked how he would respond to members of the public who suspect the coronavirus crisis is an overreaction or media hype. “If you don’t believe it now, wait a few days. The only problem is we can’t afford to have you wait a few days.”
"If the places that you rely on to send your critically ill patients are full, then you're stuck," says Dr. Mark Deutchman, associate dean for rural health at the University of Colorado's medical school. Deutchman says people living in more isolated rural areas may be less at risk for contracting the virus because of the sheer lack of people or large gatherings, yet the lack of resources is a perennial challenge during any public health crisis.
“We wouldn’t go nearly as close as China in terms of making those kinds of impositions on civil liberties,” said Glen Mays, professor of health policy at the Colorado School of Public Health. “As you get further down that list, the calculus the governor or state health official will have to make is, do the risks we face justify the economic and personal-freedom costs of adopting measures like canceling large events, closing schools or banning movement,” Mr. Mays said.
UCHealth is evaluating whether to take everyone’s temperature before allowing them inside the building, said Dr. Richard Zane, UCHealth’s chief innovation officer and chair of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Fever is a frequent symptom of the coronavirus, along with trouble breathing.
