Other items in this column include:
*Political bytes
*Recommended reading
SAN DIEGO — Six doctors and two nurses participated in a coronavirus Zoom forum moderated on Wednesday night for Tifereth Israel Synagogue members by the Conservative congregation’s program director Beth Klareich. Speaking from the perspective of being both a recovered coronavirus patient and a physician was Dr. Seth Krosner, an emergency and trauma surgeon at Scripps Mercy Hospital.
Krosner related that he first suspected something might be personally wrong while he was taking a shower and was unable to smell the gel that he uses. Afterwards, he went into his kitchen and found he was unable to smell the different spices in his spice rack. Aware that the loss of the sense of smell was a symptom of coronavirus, he self-isolated until he recovered from his mild case. He said he often didn’t feel hungry, and his instinct was not to eat, but he found that eating actually helped. Although some people on social media had been advising against using medicines with ibuprofen, “I kept on taking Motrin,” which is made from ibuprofen and “it made me feel better.” The social media advice against ibuprofen subsequently was discredited.
Having now returned to work, Krosner gave a shout-out to the two nurses on the panel — Thomas Brandenberg of Scripps Mercy and Ryan Moser of Sharp Grossmont. “I think the public doesn’t realize the degree to which nurses are on the front lines compared to doctors,” Krosner said. He noted that nurses are almost always wearing protective gear including masks that “gives you a headache” and make it “hard to hear.” He said nurses “are more exposed, really bearing the brunt” of health care, and said, “we really have to thank the nurses.”
Dr. Steve Kavy, who practices general pulmonary medicine, said “I agree 100 percent.” And Dr. Bill Sperling, a retired pulmonologist who had practiced at Kaiser Hospital, also agreed, saying this was “true even before Covid-19.”
Krosner asked the two nurses what kinds of thing were they finding that made coronavirus patients feel better. Moser said they respond well to having health care workers to talk to because “they are isolated; no family; they are scared.” Agreeing, Brandenberg said patients are scared, and feeling “extremely alone” because hospital protocols exclude visitors from the areas where coronavirus is being treated. “One patient expressed to me how grateful she was to have someone to talk to. From a psychological standpoint that’s very helpful.”
Amid all the commentary from news media and social media about the coronavirus, Klareich asked who lay people ought to listen to. “Dr. Trump!” said one respondent, prompting chortles among others. Then, in a more serious vein, Dr. Ira Braverman, an internal medicine practitioner, cautioned that “the more TV people watch gets people crazier. You don’t know who to listen to.” However, he said, as doctors, “you listen to your peers” such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, the U.S. Surgeon General. He said lay people, including President Trump, may sometimes feel desperate to offer a solution. “When you have nothing, you want to do something.”
Dr. Sperling said most health plans are sending advisories to their patients about coronavirus, adding that such information is reliable.
“You have to pick one source of information that you are comfortable with; there is information overload,” commented Dr. Abraham Broudy, a pediatrician.
A question about allowing children to return to school prompted a lively discussion. Dr. Marvin Zaguli, a pediatrician, expressed concern over the safety of young children, who tend to touch everything. Kavy said to protect themselves, children would have to wear masks and goggles, and remain six feet apart. ” I’m not sure how you can do that.” Krosner said he believed pre-schools nevertheless would have to open “because parents have to go to work.” He posited that prechools probably would have to keep small groups of children together, and that sooner or later Covid19 would be passed among the children. In such a case, he said, the school in which Covid19 was discovered probably would have to be closed for two days, and the classroom of the affected student closed for two weeks. “It will be very disruptive– an evolving science,” he said. Moser anticipated that when the schools do open, they will do daily temperature checks, and require children to wash their hands. “People are going to get sick; we’ll do the best we can,” he said.
After the session was opened to non-medical personnel, Susan Levy, principal of Pershing Medical School, said staff members of the San Diego Unified School District are exploring various “hybrid models” to permit social distancing, such as “some days on, some days off.” She said that “we’ve been successful with distance learning” by computer, but noted that middle school students haven’t been receiving grades, “so there is no accountability.” Students who enjoy school “are attending Zoom meetings everyday,” but others are not. She said it is likely that class numbers will be cut in half with “A days” and “B days,” but this still leaves unanswered the question “how will parents go to work?” She said, “We’re trying to build a plane in the air … trying to protect students and staff.”
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Israel and Syria
San Diego County’s Barry Nussbaum, in behalf of the American Truth Project, has interviewed IDF Gen. Yaron Rosen (res), former IDF helicopter commander, on the situation in Syria. A video of that interview may be seen above.
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Political bytes
*County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher has endorsed Terra Lawson-Remer in her bid to defeat incumbent Supervisor Kristin Gaspar in the 3rd Supervisorial District. He messaged, “Terra has a commitment to protecting our environment, fighting for the middle class, tackling our affordable housing crisis, and standing up to the hateful agenda of Trump. Terra Lawson-Remer is the champion of working families I need alongside me on the Board of Supervisors.”
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Recommended reading
*Karen Pearlman of The San Diego Union-Tribune takes a front-page look at Santee’s troubled racial history and its efforts to change its image.
*Pam Kragen, a day after our own Eric George Tauber, tells San Diego Union-Tribune readers about the holiday of Lag Ba’Omer and Chabad’s unusual drive through circus to celebrate it.
*Jewish Insider has redistributed a Vice article that reports a company that sells hacking equipment to Saudi Arabia and other authoritarian governments has been seeking to sell similar equipment to the San Diego Police Department.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com