NRI Pulse Staff Report
Atlanta, GA, March 15, 2020: An Indian American doctor who says he is currently treating coronavirus patients, is pleading with people, via social media, to stay home.
In a Facebook post that has been shared at least 16,000 times, Sajan Patel, MD said he plans to continue treating patients at University of California, San Francisco for several more weeks, and that he has accepted that he would likely get COVID-19 doing so.
He said the United States is on the “path to becoming the next Italy.”
Dr. Patel is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in UCSF’s Department of Medicine.
“I have taken care of (the first two cases in the Bay Area) and will be taking care of COVID-19 patients in the weeks and months to come, I’ve accepted that I will likely get COVID doing so, and I’ve heard first-hand the harrowing stories of the intensivists at EvergreenHealth (in Washington state) – I beg all of you to please stay at home – don’t go to that event that you were so desperately excited to go to. Make the hard sacrifice for the sake of humankind, and listen to real doctors, not the fake ones posting,” his post said.
“We are on the path to becoming the next Italy, and conditions there for both patients and health care providers are truly unimaginable (their country’s medical chief Roberto Stella just succumbed to it),” he said.
“I’m accepting the hard reality that I won’t be visiting my parents, brother, or seeing my wonderful nephew for months if not longer, but that is the sacrifice we all must make to hopefully slow down what’s already coming very fast.”
“This is not about you – because chances are you will get it and recover – this is about our parents and elderly, our sick, our vulnerable that will suffer, and our hospitals and healthcare workers that are about to get crushed under the weight of COVID.”
He said the COVID-19 is not the flu. “This is not about cheap flights. Anyone that is downplaying the severity of COVID is either selfish or misinformed – we have never seen anything like this before and the US has been woefully underprepared, especially with testing.”
“Be smart, be kind, and be a good human. Do your part to socially distance, cancel everything, and flatten the curve. The health of our people and healthcare system depends on it,” he added.
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