COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are skyrocketing, sucking up virtually all resources (beds, equipment, Doctors and Nurses) to the exclusion of the myriad other HC needs...this is catastrophic in several areas of the country.
Our medical professionals, as good as they are, can't predict at 'admittance' which patient with fever, cough, shortness of breath and a positive COVID-19 test will not get worse or die...regardless of age since deaths have occurred in all groups...they all need to be treated according to the same protocol. Expectations may vary by age group, but the treatment process doesn't.
The abiding fear in the HC community is a rampant pandemic that overwhelms our finite resources of Doctors, Nurses, etc...forcing them to turn away patients who are in clear distress...and not just for COVID-19 symptoms...as mentioned, other critical needs (heart attacks, cancer treatments, asthma, etc.) would go un-treated. Doctors and Nurses are not robots; those on the 'front lines' (e.g. ICUs) are being stressed physically and emotionally...they fear for their patients, and for themselves and families. I know this because I have family members doing this, as we debate.
BTW, with regard to the suspicion that Doctors are falsifying documentation wrt COVID-19 deaths...please stop...I would not even broach the subject with our family ICU Doc.
If everyone "Mitigates' fervently and commits to getting the vaccine(s) when they become available, in hopefully a few months, we'll be able to come together and celebrate...let's make sure that such happy days come for as many of us as humanly possible.
Link: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality