SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Certified Registered Nurses Kimberly Scheider, left, and Debbie Jessell, right, walk up to a patient's car before starting the test at Penn State Health St. Joseph where they are conducting drive through coronavirus / COVID-19 testing and have taken extra precautions regarding entry to the hospital, in Bern Township, PA Friday afternoon March 27, 2020.(Photo: Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)
800,000 Doctors to Trump: Heed Expert Warnings and End Dangerous Campaign Against Social Distancing
"We need your leadership in supporting science-based recommendations on social distancing that can slow the virus."
Mar 28, 2020
A council representing more than 800,000 doctors across the U.S. signed a letter Friday imploring President Donald Trump to reverse his call for businesses to reopen by April 12, warning that the president's flouting of the guidance of public health experts could jeopardize the health of millions of Americans and throw hospitals into even more chaos as they fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The Council of Medical Specialty Societies--a coalition comprised of such physicians' groups as the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and the American College of Preventive Medicine--called for the president's leadership in encouraging Americans to continue practicing social distancing to slow the spread of the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19.
"Significant COVID-19 transmission continues across the United States, and we need your leadership in supporting science-based recommendations on social distancing that can slow the virus," the council wrote. "Statewide efforts alone will not sufficiently control this public health crisis."
While governors and mayors across the country have issued shelter-in-place orders to the public and warned their communities that it could take several weeks of vigilance--with restaurants and schools closed and many people leaving home only for essentials--in order to "flatten the curve" and slow the spread of the virus, Trump said Monday he wants businesses across the country to reopen by Easter.
"You'll have packed churches all over our country. I think it would be a beautiful time," Trump said this week about his target of Easter, interpreted by some as a nod to evangelical Christian voters. Last weekend the president also suggested that the "cure" of temporarily shutting down businesses would be "worse than the disease," which has killed more than 1,500 Americans so far and has sickened nearly 100,000.
Following the president's statements, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a right-wing Republican, suggested social distancing measures are a matter of partisanship and represent a cultural divide between conservatives and liberals.
"Y'all, we are not California, we're not New York," Ivey told reporters about her decision to keep Alabama's economy running.
This coming Tuesday Trump is expected to give more details about his plans to reopen the economy after just 15 days of social distancing implemented by the White House.
In its letter the council wrote that rather than treating the pandemic as a partisan issue, Trump must follow the guidance of public health experts and encourage all Americans to do the same.
"A strong nationwide plan that supports and enforces social distancing--and recognizes that our health and our economy are inextricably linked--should remain in place until public health and medical experts indicate it can be lifted," the letter reads.
"Federal, state, and local governments should only set a date for lifting nationwide social distancing restrictions consistent with assessments by public health and medical experts," it continued. "Lifting restrictions sooner will gravely jeopardize the health of all Americans and extend the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A council representing more than 800,000 doctors across the U.S. signed a letter Friday imploring President Donald Trump to reverse his call for businesses to reopen by April 12, warning that the president's flouting of the guidance of public health experts could jeopardize the health of millions of Americans and throw hospitals into even more chaos as they fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The Council of Medical Specialty Societies--a coalition comprised of such physicians' groups as the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and the American College of Preventive Medicine--called for the president's leadership in encouraging Americans to continue practicing social distancing to slow the spread of the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19.
"Significant COVID-19 transmission continues across the United States, and we need your leadership in supporting science-based recommendations on social distancing that can slow the virus," the council wrote. "Statewide efforts alone will not sufficiently control this public health crisis."
While governors and mayors across the country have issued shelter-in-place orders to the public and warned their communities that it could take several weeks of vigilance--with restaurants and schools closed and many people leaving home only for essentials--in order to "flatten the curve" and slow the spread of the virus, Trump said Monday he wants businesses across the country to reopen by Easter.
"You'll have packed churches all over our country. I think it would be a beautiful time," Trump said this week about his target of Easter, interpreted by some as a nod to evangelical Christian voters. Last weekend the president also suggested that the "cure" of temporarily shutting down businesses would be "worse than the disease," which has killed more than 1,500 Americans so far and has sickened nearly 100,000.
Following the president's statements, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a right-wing Republican, suggested social distancing measures are a matter of partisanship and represent a cultural divide between conservatives and liberals.
"Y'all, we are not California, we're not New York," Ivey told reporters about her decision to keep Alabama's economy running.
This coming Tuesday Trump is expected to give more details about his plans to reopen the economy after just 15 days of social distancing implemented by the White House.
In its letter the council wrote that rather than treating the pandemic as a partisan issue, Trump must follow the guidance of public health experts and encourage all Americans to do the same.
"A strong nationwide plan that supports and enforces social distancing--and recognizes that our health and our economy are inextricably linked--should remain in place until public health and medical experts indicate it can be lifted," the letter reads.
"Federal, state, and local governments should only set a date for lifting nationwide social distancing restrictions consistent with assessments by public health and medical experts," it continued. "Lifting restrictions sooner will gravely jeopardize the health of all Americans and extend the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic."
A council representing more than 800,000 doctors across the U.S. signed a letter Friday imploring President Donald Trump to reverse his call for businesses to reopen by April 12, warning that the president's flouting of the guidance of public health experts could jeopardize the health of millions of Americans and throw hospitals into even more chaos as they fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The Council of Medical Specialty Societies--a coalition comprised of such physicians' groups as the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and the American College of Preventive Medicine--called for the president's leadership in encouraging Americans to continue practicing social distancing to slow the spread of the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19.
"Significant COVID-19 transmission continues across the United States, and we need your leadership in supporting science-based recommendations on social distancing that can slow the virus," the council wrote. "Statewide efforts alone will not sufficiently control this public health crisis."
While governors and mayors across the country have issued shelter-in-place orders to the public and warned their communities that it could take several weeks of vigilance--with restaurants and schools closed and many people leaving home only for essentials--in order to "flatten the curve" and slow the spread of the virus, Trump said Monday he wants businesses across the country to reopen by Easter.
"You'll have packed churches all over our country. I think it would be a beautiful time," Trump said this week about his target of Easter, interpreted by some as a nod to evangelical Christian voters. Last weekend the president also suggested that the "cure" of temporarily shutting down businesses would be "worse than the disease," which has killed more than 1,500 Americans so far and has sickened nearly 100,000.
Following the president's statements, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a right-wing Republican, suggested social distancing measures are a matter of partisanship and represent a cultural divide between conservatives and liberals.
"Y'all, we are not California, we're not New York," Ivey told reporters about her decision to keep Alabama's economy running.
This coming Tuesday Trump is expected to give more details about his plans to reopen the economy after just 15 days of social distancing implemented by the White House.
In its letter the council wrote that rather than treating the pandemic as a partisan issue, Trump must follow the guidance of public health experts and encourage all Americans to do the same.
"A strong nationwide plan that supports and enforces social distancing--and recognizes that our health and our economy are inextricably linked--should remain in place until public health and medical experts indicate it can be lifted," the letter reads.
"Federal, state, and local governments should only set a date for lifting nationwide social distancing restrictions consistent with assessments by public health and medical experts," it continued. "Lifting restrictions sooner will gravely jeopardize the health of all Americans and extend the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.