不知道能不能得到回复。但也算是做了些自己能做的一点努力吧。 Dear Senator xxx, I'm writing to you with a deep concern regarding the spreading of COVID-19 in xxx and across the United States.
A few facts (based on published academic papers and my doctor friends who fought on the front line in China) about the virus: (i) 2-3% fatality rate with adequate medical care ; (ii) 20% of the infected need intensive hospitalized care and the majority of them will DIE without enough medical support (as in Iran now and the early stage in Wuhan, the epicenter); (iii) those who have been severely ill from the virus will suffer irreversible lung damage even after recovery from virus; (iii) for people who initially show mild symptoms, some of them could quickly spiral into critical conditions; (iv) it could kill young and middle-aged people who are perfectly healthy before contracting the virus; (v) average recovery time is about 4-6 weeks, even for mild cases.
Therefore, it is nothing like a flu! In fact, the 1918 Spanish flu can be regarded as mild compared to COVID-19.
Given the severity of the virus, there are things that could be done to make a huge difference between getting it under control with some reasonable costs and losing 5-10% of population in the worst case scenario.
First, get people tested! It's essential to test everyone who shows COVID-19 like symptoms, as judged by their doctors. It's dangerous to have people with COVID-19 walking around without knowing what they have contracted. As I'm writing this message, test kits are being developed and produced nationwide by public labs and commercial testers. I believe the U.S. has enough talents and manpower to produce enough test kits over the next couple of weeks. However, the next bottleneck would be how to efficiently gather samples from the potential patients and transport samples to labs.
Here're what can be done: (i) Train all physicians/nurses with the knowledge of sampling for COVID-19. Based on the experience of Chinese doctors, most "false negatives" are not caused by the lab errors, but the ways the samples are taken from patients. (ii) Have a few "designated" test locations (a specific building of a hospital, a temporary clinic, etc.) in each county and release the information to the public. This will protect the majority of medical workers and avoid cross-infection among patients. (iii) Make the test free.
Second, protect the medical workers! All medical workers (especially physicians and nurses) should start wearing masks and personal protective equipment (PPE). Right now, most doctors and nurses are not protected at all! They should be strongly encouraged (or even required) to wear protective gears. In China, everyone who works in the hospital is wearing head-to-toe PPE. I believe American doctors and nurses deserve equal, if not better, protections. Another measure that could be taken is to set up temporary tents in front of most hospitals to "pre-screen" patients and direct those with COVID-19 like symptoms to specific building/area. And, it's important to set up "online" medical services to limit unnecessary visits to hospitals/clinics.
Doctors and nurses are like soldiers in the war in fighting the virus, and the nasty nature of the COVID-19 will suck dry all the available medical resources quicker than anyone could anticipate. In China, over 40,000 medical staff was drafted across the country to help fight the outbreak in Wuhan. That, accompanied by the fact that the whole country was put into a quarantine since late January, was how the outbreak was taken under control.
Third, set up temporary quarantine areas! As the virus spreads, more people will be tested positive with the virus. While those who are severely ill should be taken into hospitals, it is important to quarantine those with relatively mild symptoms. Especially for: (i) those who live with family members who are not tested positive with COVID-19 and don't have enough space to self-quarantine at home; (ii) those who live in school dormitories, military bases, and other densely-populated places; (iii) homeless people.
In Wuhan, it was a lesson learned in a hard way. Many families started with one person who was ill with COVID-19, and the whole family was infected over the next few days. It's not uncommon to have a whole household infected by COVID-19 and multiple dead from it. Similar clustering cases have started to show in the U.S. (the NY cases) and let's pray tragedies in Wuhan won't repeat here.
Temporary quarantine areas could be made-shift indoor stadiums, motels (as WA state is trying to do), etc. It's a very efficient way to treat people with mild symptoms, as a couple of doctors and a dozen of nurses can take care of 500-1000 patients, most of whom could function on their own. Moreover, if some patients' conditions turn severe, they can be transferred to hospitals without a delay.
Fourth, assemble volunteers! Volunteers are needed for the following conditions: (i) For people who are self-quarantined at home, help them with food and other essential delivery. (ii) When schools and businesses are closed, make sure kids with free lunch at school and households living paycheck by paycheck are supplied with food and other essentials. (iii) When parents are taken into hospitals due to COVID-19, make sure their young kids are taken good care of. (iv) Help take care of the kids of doctors and nurses when their parents are at work. (iv) To make sure help can be reached to everyone who needs it, a hotline should be set up.
Finally, send the right message to people! Most people are still under the impression that COVID-19 is nothing but an enhanced flu, especially young people who are planning their spring breaks with all the enthusiasm. While there's no need to make people panic, it's important to provide them with all the information so that they can make responsible decisions (for themselves and for people around them). The reason why the stock market is in a turmoil now is exactly the lack of information and misinformation
It IS a deadly situation if not taken seriously. It is the time for people of different beliefs and opinions to unite and fight a common deadly enemy. After all, the virus is blindly dangerous and won't differentiate people by their genders, races, or political beliefs.
Thanks again for your time. I sincerely believe that a man in your position, if act now, can make a huge difference, and the people, when well informed, can greatly support the effort in fighting the virus. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to your replies!
我的建议是：大人物都比较忙，可能只看1分钟就delegate走了，你要确保他们能很快get what you want。所以mm想要得到什么样的方案/支持就一开始首先说，简单说，I would like to suggest 1 ，2，3。然后至于why/arguments/evidences放到后面，他们要看就看、不看的话你要的东西已经deliver了也不亏。
Dear Senator xxx,
I'm writing to you with a deep concern regarding the spreading of COVID-19 in xxx and across the United States.
A few facts (based on published academic papers and my doctor friends who fought on the front line in China) about the virus: (i) 2-3% fatality rate with adequate medical care ; (ii) 20% of the infected need intensive hospitalized care and the majority of them will DIE without enough medical support (as in Iran now and the early stage in Wuhan, the epicenter); (iii) those who have been severely ill from the virus will suffer irreversible lung damage even after recovery from virus; (iii) for people who initially show mild symptoms, some of them could quickly spiral into critical conditions; (iv) it could kill young and middle-aged people who are perfectly healthy before contracting the virus; (v) average recovery time is about 4-6 weeks, even for mild cases.
Therefore, it is nothing like a flu! In fact, the 1918 Spanish flu can be regarded as mild compared to COVID-19.
Given the severity of the virus, there are things that could be done to make a huge difference between getting it under control with some reasonable costs and losing 5-10% of population in the worst case scenario.
First, get people tested! It's essential to test everyone who shows COVID-19 like symptoms, as judged by their doctors. It's dangerous to have people with COVID-19 walking around without knowing what they have contracted. As I'm writing this message, test kits are being developed and produced nationwide by public labs and commercial testers. I believe the U.S. has enough talents and manpower to produce enough test kits over the next couple of weeks. However, the next bottleneck would be how to efficiently gather samples from the potential patients and transport samples to labs.
Here're what can be done: (i) Train all physicians/nurses with the knowledge of sampling for COVID-19. Based on the experience of Chinese doctors, most "false negatives" are not caused by the lab errors, but the ways the samples are taken from patients. (ii) Have a few "designated" test locations (a specific building of a hospital, a temporary clinic, etc.) in each county and release the information to the public. This will protect the majority of medical workers and avoid cross-infection among patients. (iii) Make the test free.
Second, protect the medical workers! All medical workers (especially physicians and nurses) should start wearing masks and personal protective equipment (PPE). Right now, most doctors and nurses are not protected at all! They should be strongly encouraged (or even required) to wear protective gears. In China, everyone who works in the hospital is wearing head-to-toe PPE. I believe American doctors and nurses deserve equal, if not better, protections. Another measure that could be taken is to set up temporary tents in front of most hospitals to "pre-screen" patients and direct those with COVID-19 like symptoms to specific building/area. And, it's important to set up "online" medical services to limit unnecessary visits to hospitals/clinics.
Doctors and nurses are like soldiers in the war in fighting the virus, and the nasty nature of the COVID-19 will suck dry all the available medical resources quicker than anyone could anticipate. In China, over 40,000 medical staff was drafted across the country to help fight the outbreak in Wuhan. That, accompanied by the fact that the whole country was put into a quarantine since late January, was how the outbreak was taken under control.
Third, set up temporary quarantine areas! As the virus spreads, more people will be tested positive with the virus. While those who are severely ill should be taken into hospitals, it is important to quarantine those with relatively mild symptoms. Especially for: (i) those who live with family members who are not tested positive with COVID-19 and don't have enough space to self-quarantine at home; (ii) those who live in school dormitories, military bases, and other densely-populated places; (iii) homeless people.
In Wuhan, it was a lesson learned in a hard way. Many families started with one person who was ill with COVID-19, and the whole family was infected over the next few days. It's not uncommon to have a whole household infected by COVID-19 and multiple dead from it. Similar clustering cases have started to show in the U.S. (the NY cases) and let's pray tragedies in Wuhan won't repeat here.
Temporary quarantine areas could be made-shift indoor stadiums, motels (as WA state is trying to do), etc. It's a very efficient way to treat people with mild symptoms, as a couple of doctors and a dozen of nurses can take care of 500-1000 patients, most of whom could function on their own. Moreover, if some patients' conditions turn severe, they can be transferred to hospitals without a delay.
Fourth, assemble volunteers! Volunteers are needed for the following conditions: (i) For people who are self-quarantined at home, help them with food and other essential delivery. (ii) When schools and businesses are closed, make sure kids with free lunch at school and households living paycheck by paycheck are supplied with food and other essentials. (iii) When parents are taken into hospitals due to COVID-19, make sure their young kids are taken good care of. (iv) Help take care of the kids of doctors and nurses when their parents are at work. (iv) To make sure help can be reached to everyone who needs it, a hotline should be set up.
Finally, send the right message to people! Most people are still under the impression that COVID-19 is nothing but an enhanced flu, especially young people who are planning their spring breaks with all the enthusiasm. While there's no need to make people panic, it's important to provide them with all the information so that they can make responsible decisions (for themselves and for people around them). The reason why the stock market is in a turmoil now is exactly the lack of information and misinformation
It IS a deadly situation if not taken seriously. It is the time for people of different beliefs and opinions to unite and fight a common deadly enemy. After all, the virus is blindly dangerous and won't differentiate people by their genders, races, or political beliefs.
Thanks again for your time. I sincerely believe that a man in your position, if act now, can make a huge difference, and the people, when well informed, can greatly support the effort in fighting the virus. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to your replies!
my 2 cents