“Today, if every hospital employee who had a close encounter with a COVID-19 patient disappeared for two weeks, the medical workforce would quickly become depleted. A safe alternative would be to minimize potential exposures by testing everyone who stepped foot in the hospital … The U.S. does not have that testing capacity. The next best thing might be to require some form of mask and other personal protective equipment (PPE) for all staff, and possibly even patients, presuming that anyone could be a disease transmitter. The U.S. does not have enough medical supplies to do this either.” And the shit hitting the fan in NYC and elsewhere is sadly coming to a hospital near you. James Hamblin: The Curve Is Not Flat Enough.

+ “Emergency medical workers are making life-or-death decisions about who is sick enough to take to crowded emergency rooms and who appears well enough to leave behind. They are assessing on scene which patients should receive time-consuming measures like CPR and intubation, and which patients are too far gone to save … And, they are doing it, in most cases they say, without appropriate equipment to protect themselves from infection.” N.Y.C.’s 911 System Is Overwhelmed. ‘I’m Terrified,’ a Paramedic Says. (In some cities, citizens are cheering for first responders and health workers at the same time each night. Maybe we should just all cheer nonstop.)