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Letter: 'Lives depend on your actions,' say doctors

Doctors in practice together call for everyone to follow instructions from Dr. Bonnie Henry by staying home, practising physical distancing and washing hands to battle COVID-19
hospital tent cremona italy feb. 29 2020
In this Feb. 29, 2020 file photo, paramedics work in a tent that was set up outside the hospital of Cremona, northern Italy. Italian doctors celebrated one small victory in their battle against the coronavirus Monday after Patient No. 1, a 38-year-old named Mattia was moved out of intensive care. But in the rest of hard-hit northern Italy, the virus' spread was growing so exponentially that doctors spoke of choices war-time triage medics make in deciding who lives and who dies, and who get access to the limited number of ICU beds.

The Editor,

We are family physicians on the front lines in the battle against COVID-19. 

This crisis is unlike anything we have experienced in our lifetimes. We are working flat out to be there for our patients and their families. 

Doctors cannot do this alone. What the public does now will impact the health of British Columbians the weeks and months ahead.

Lives depend on your actions now.

Our province is in a state of emergency.

Here is the directive from our provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry:

Stay home unless absolutely necessary. This means no dinner parties, no shopping, no sports, even outside. Have coffee with a friend online.

Keep two metres away from everyone if you must go out. That’s about the width of a car or the length of two arms stretched out.

Wash your hands frequently.

Tell your loved ones to do the same.

This is especially important for young people. We sometimes see you out in the park or at the beach. You can get sick from this virus. More importantly, you can be carriers and cause a lot of harm to parents, grandparents and other loved ones. 

The time is now. We can’t wait one more hour or one more day. 

Let’s save lives, together.

Dr. Ida Gallo, Dr. Anne Buie, Dr. Rajvinder Malhi & Dr. Kasia Baker, Burnaby