Watch the AMA's daily COVID-19 update, with insights from AMA leaders and experts about the pandemic.
Featured topic and speakers
In part two of a two-part series, AMA Chief Experience Officer Todd Unger speaks with physicians about the impact of COVID-19 in Texas, which has become one of the nation's hot spots.
Learn more at the AMA COVID-19 resource center.
Speakers
- Susan R. Bailey, MD, president, AMA
- Diana L. Fite, MD, president, Texas Medical Association
- Hilary Fairbrother, MD, MPH, emergency medicine physician
Transcript
Unger: Hello, this is the American Medical Association's COVID-19 update. Today we continue with part two of a two-part series looking at the impact of COVID-19 in Texas, one of the nation's hot spots. Well, Dr. Bailey, since reopening, Governor Abbott has taken several steps to try to curb the numbers. Can you talk about some of these efforts and whether or not they're working?
Dr. Bailey: The governor recently announced a mask mandate, if you will, saying that Texans need to wear masks in public and in certain places. I'm very supportive of that because doctors all feel that people ought to be wearing masks everywhere anyway, regardless of a mandate. And then doing what none of us wanted to do, which was to roll back some of the reopenings, particularly bars. That's really gotten a lot of publicity around here, but the fact of the matter is that a bar is just the absolute perfect place to spread the virus. Inside you're not wearing a mask because you may be enjoying a beverage, you're in close quarters with people, and you're speaking very loudly so that you can be heard over the crowd and over the music. All of those things are just recipes for spreading the virus. So support the governor, what he had to do was a very difficult decision. And hopefully we can start reopening again if people will wear their mask, wash their hands and keep their distance.
Unger: Well, late last week a very sad story surfaced out of San Antonio, about a 30 year old man that died as a result of attending a coronavirus party. In the article, he was quoted as saying, "I think I made a mistake. I thought it was a hoax, but it's not." before he died. What would you like people to know in terms of misperceptions circulating in Texas and across the country right now?
Dr. Fite: Texas is known as an independent state. So many people think you can't tell them what to do. Again, they did a great job back in March and April, but things have changed. And there are a lot of people that are believing that it's a hoax, especially if they live in areas that don't have a lot of the virus and the hospitals aren't quite filled to the brim, like we are in Houston and many areas of South Texas and other large cities. So, there is a group out there that just don't believe that it's all true, and we need to stop that conversation as best we can. This was an excellent example, though very sad. I hope that information gets around.
Dr. Fairbrother: Like Dr. Fite said, I feel like people have gotten information from many different sources about coronavirus, and I don't blame people for feeling confused. I don't blame people for feeling that they don't necessarily feel like there's been clear messaging on what they're supposed to do to keep themselves, and their family and their loved ones safe. I've been pretty consistent with this message when other people have talked to me, and certainly when my patients have spoken to me in the emergency department. And my message is this, if you are worried about coronavirus and you want real information, ask your doctor. Like Dr. Fite and Dr. Bailey said, we are united in this. We are not going to politicize this information for you, we are going to give it to you straight. We will let you know about the virus, we will give you the right information so that you can be safe, so that your family can be safe.
Unger: That's good advice. Dr. Bailey, any other comments?
Dr. Bailey: I'm not sure I can say it much better than that, but I think there's multiple strains of thought. One is that it's just a hoax and doesn't exist. One is, "Well, I want to catch coronavirus now so I can get it over with and then I don't have to worry about it." Both of which are dangerously false. In general, I worry about the anti-science sentiment that seems to be increasing in our society and how people don't want to trust the public health authorities. Or even threatening public health authorities with violence in some cases. We need to treasure our public health authorities and listen to them very carefully.
Unger: Absolutely. Last question, what is the long-term outlook for Texas and what are organizations like the AMA and TMA doing to help? Dr. Bailey, you want to start?
Dr. Bailey: The outlook for Texas; Texans are tough. Texans don't like to lose and we will beat this virus. We will pitch in and make sure that all the patients are taken care of. I'm concerned about going into flu season, because it's going to be more important than ever for people to get flu vaccines this year because our healthcare system is already taxed enough. It typically is taxed dramatically during flu season, and having flu and COVID-19 at the same time is a recipe for disaster. But we will fight this, there's a lot of great research coming out. We're hopeful about having a vaccine. There are some other bridging type of medications and therapeutics that are being investigated that can hopefully help tide us over until we get this vaccine. But I think this is going to be with us for a while. I think some of our physical distancing, and wearing masks, and things like that may be our new normal.
Dr. Fite: The Texas Medical Association has the backs of the physicians and working with the AMA as well. But we're particularly working on getting PPE, helping the physicians with that, getting information to them as best as possible. Especially even things such as loans to help keep their offices open when this is a strange time. We're keeping a very close eye on all of the people that have lost their jobs, and lost insurances, and are themselves stopping treatments that they need because they're worried about payment. There are so many things that we are working on and providing information to our doctors and their patients.
Unger: Dr. Fairbrother, any final comments?
Dr. Fairbrother: Like Dr. Bailey and like Dr. Fite said, Texas is strong. Texas is proud, Texas is going to be okay. And that's the patients and the physicians in Texas are going to be all right. We're going to get through this, but we are in it for the long haul. It is not likely that we are going to be seeing an end to this pandemic anytime soon. With that in mind, I think we all just have to look towards ways that we can support each other. So that we can get through this surge and get our numbers back down, and then hopefully reopen our communities and our economies. And have all the benefits that go with that for everyone, and also be safe and not have to deal with continued resurgence of this virus.
I think what I and many other physicians across the state are pretty consistently worried about, is that we would get ourselves into a place where our resources are outstripped and we are not able to take care of all of the patients who are sick. I don't want to get there, we're not there yet, and I don't ever want to see us get there. So we need everyone in Texas to work together. That's physicians and our patients, so that we can have a combined team response to this pandemic. And we know it's going to be a long time, but we are going to make it through together.
Dr. Bailey: Amen.
Unger: Well, thanks so much, Dr. Bailey, Dr. Fite, Dr. Fairbrother for being here today and for all your perspectives. And of course thank you to you and your colleagues for all they're doing to help patients and to end this COVID pandemic. That completes part two of our series on COVID-19 in Texas. If you missed part one, you can find it on AMA's, YouTube channel. We'll be back on Monday with another COVID-19 update. In the meantime for updated resources on COVID-19 visit ama-assn.org/covid-19. Thanks for joining us. Stay safe, please take care.
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this video are those of the participants and/or do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the AMA.
