By: Nettan

Nettan
Thu, 18 Jun 2020 13:30:57 +0000

I am glad the students get to return to campus. COVID-19 can be serious, but many other viruses, and bacterial infections can be deadly as well. We’ve learned enough about the virus to take precautions and know fairly well how to treat it. Sounds like students and staff have options of in—class, online and hybrid classes. We have to recognize the effect the close down has on mental health, fear and other disease states as well. Being a nurse practitioner in oncology, I fear the late diagnosis of many cancers, for example, as people fear going to the doctor for.health problems unrelated to the virus, or cannot be seen in person by their primary care provider. I worry about unchecked diabetes, mental health issues, preventive vaccines for kids, heart disease, etc. it’s like the world have forgotten all the people suffering from other conditions and we worry about COVID alone. We need to get back to a more comprehensive view of health. Loneliness and social distancing and increased screen time is not good for our college age young adults, nor high school seniors, for example. Online learning just isn’t the same and socialization is important as young people grow and develop. OSU and other colleges who do their best to develop a comprehensive plan for school return should have some exemptions from being sued if people get sick. We all take risks every day snd each individual can way their own risks before deciding how to proceed this fall. Even my elderly cancer patients are getting tired of being alone and are looking at ways to start socializing in a new safer way. We can’t be locked down forever. I would love to see statistics on what other health problems have surged during COVID-19 lockdowns. Deaths from myocardial infections, depression, alcoholism, cancer, to name a few.