Implement social distancing now to buy time and shift the curve of infections, which has enormous consequences for healthcare capacity and the ability to provide care.
Nursing homes and assisted living facilities must implement extra screening measures for people entering and exiting, and review preparedness plans, to protect older residents from the virus’s devastating effects.
Identify patients who have recovered from the infection, collect their antibody-rich serum, and use it as a low-cost treatment for seriously ill patients or as prophylaxis for healthcare workers and first responders. This requires the help of blood banks and a federal task force for standardization.
Be aware that the virus can survive on surfaces (e.g., plastic for 72 hours, steel for 24 hours), making droplet contact and auto-inoculation (touching mucous membranes) significant modes of transmission.
Physicians and scientists should actively engage public audiences to counter ignorance and false information, as this is the best weapon against misinformation.
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