northbird:
From look of things in Lagos,

I presume dey will do maybe 5am- 5pm n still ban religious gatherings.

N schools will resume maybe later in May for the school students who are writing terminal exams.

Or follow pattern of deir foreign counterparts

This will be great ..

Whoa!! Na Battista I dey see so in Master Z? Didn't see that coming!! Dave Bautista k'are. From wwe to Marvel to Asia.

Felicity0001:

Oh... so na U get that chop knokle memes??

Haha... You b koret guy oya chop am!!!

Lol naxo baba

sexylassie2:


what i am trying to say is that if lock down and social distancing is lifted, people who didn't contact the virus before, will contact it and then infect their families

But how na sexy? So you mean even you too cant think outside the box as well?
Is it only one method they use in solving quadratic equations?
Is it only one road to that leads to a market?
You keep comparing Nigeria and America no wonder we are all waiting for America or europe to call up their own lockdown before we do then we also copy every measures they take as well and then when we on the verge of copying we blame ourselves forgetting the disparities btw these two countries and continents.

We blacks claim to be smart and intelligent but we always rely on the white man's move and idea b4 we do anything.

Its a pity a lot of you belong to this kick and start government.

I really miss the PDP type of governance if it was PDP in power by now we would have been seeing all kinds of sensitization, awareness and all types of supports and ideas coming in.

Carshopper:


This will be great ..

Although, it's not going to be easy, cos you know religious institutions wield a lot of power in Nigeria o, so politicians are lways careful not to rock the boat.

northbird:


Although, it's not going to be easy, cos you know religious institutions wield a lot of power in Nigeria o, so politicians are lways careful not to rock the boat.

The problem of our governance...

Lagos state to announce compulsory use of facemask
#maskupLagos

Carshopper:


This is the problem - we keep saying in Italy, in this country, in that country - every country can not apply same precautions and achieve same due to different welfare packages that the government will have to put in place....

China closed wuhan but left Shanghai and Beijing operational

Residents in most cities in US already calling for relaxation of lockdown

The NCDC response plan towards influenza published 2013 says lockdown isnt advisable.

Presently we are seeing an increase in numbers after 3weeks of lockdown - most countries saw a spike first 14days of lockdown then a gradual decline.

The typical nigerian is migratory in nature ... he moves from one place to another without no just reason sometimes.

The typical Nigerian is on a daily based income.

A method that attacks the situation with a nigerian approach while fusing a partial lockdown scenario has to be used.

Crowded market spaces - Every local govt, iyaloja and health workers can be utilized to enlighten, educate and correct movement in market spaces. Large markets should practice a higher hygiene method. Use of face masks should be strictly encouraged.

Public transport - this would have been a great time for the govt to launch mass transit that will be used to control, educate and enlighten people while they move from place to place

Yellow buses - best time for the nurtw chairman of Lagos to make a stand on his tenure. Mass education of all drivers n conductors , daily distribution of face masks at parks


Social distancing not in form of a lock down should be encouraged.

at this moment since our universities both private and public cant find a vaccines against the virus, we have to practice what other countries did and that is lock down and social distancing.

We dont have the resources against mass infection, if everyone is infected, where is the hospitals that will treat them. sincerely speaking it will be a bad thing if people began to die up and down, even WHO will blame Nigeria for not protecting her citizens.

We are not china, Italy or USA, we do not have the resources like that but we can do what they did to stop the spread and that is enforcing social distancing and making sure people stay in their houses and only come out for essential purchase till a drop in cases happens

Money is good but also health is important

sexylassie2:


at this moment since our universities both private and public cant find a vaccines against the virus, we have to practice what other countries did and that is lock down and social distancing.

We dont have the resources against mass infection, if everyone is infected, where is the hospitals that will treat them. sincerely speaking it will be a bad thing if people began to die up and down, even WHO will blame Nigeria for not protecting her citizens.

We are not china, Italy or USA, we do not have the resources like that but we can do what they did to stop the spread and that is enforcing social distancing and making sure people stay in their houses and only come out for essential purchase till a drop in cases happens

Money is good but also health is important

Lockdown is a sub of Social Distancing ... not to worry sha, as @radautoworks we shall separate those for continued lockdown and those against it ...put them in different state

Day 28 is upon us already. We would soon know our fate; lockdown extension or lockdown suspended.

I totally get the argument in favour of suspending the lockdown. In truth, it’s not been as effective as it could have been because it wasn’t enforced, na play play lockdown.

My opinion is that if the lockdown had been really enforced, moving on to suspending it and taking alternative preventive measures (compulsory face masks et al) would have been a no brainer.

Felicity0001:

But how na sexy? So you mean even you too cant think outside the box as well?
Is it only one method they use in solving quadratic equations?
Is it only one road to that leads to a market?
You keep comparing Nigeria and America no wonder we are all waiting for America or europe to call up their own lockdown before we do then we also copy every measures they take as well and then when we on the verge of copying we blame ourselves forgetting the disparities btw these two countries and continents.

We blacks claim to be smart and intelligent but we always rely on the white man's move and idea b4 we do anything.

Its a pity a lot of you belong to this kick and start government.

I really miss the PDP type of governance if it was PDP in power by now we would have been seeing all kinds of sensitization, awareness and all types of supports and ideas coming in.

how? we are fighting against a virus we dont understand, something invisible that can spread without showing any sign of symptoms, something not used to us, nothing bad learning from the white man how to solve it

everywhere in lagos is crowded, the bus stops are crowded, the buses crowded, the malls crowded, offices crowded, churches crowded, market crowded, lagos is the smallest state in Nigeria with almost 13 million people living in it, that means that infrastructures does not serve the populace.

Lagos is a big ghetto, people living anyhow, jam pack to each other, that is why there is an increase in the rise of the virus, another city next to lagos is Kano

lagos and Kano will be immensely affected by corona virus, we are just in for a ride, soon the effect will all be in our faces.

Babadee1900:
Guys permit me to digress....

Will Lagos agents/landlord understand that the reason why you are defaulting in house rent payment is because of COVID19?

.....because come June ending I have to renew rent and from the look of things presently, homeboy may default.

You just spoke my mind. My rent expired March ending. I've spent it on stocking up and family. Waiting to hear from my landlord... It is well sha...

Carshopper:


Lockdown is a sub of Social Distancing ... not to worry sha, as @radautoworks we shall separate those for continued lockdown and those against it ...put them in different state

but is lockdown and social distancing not different?

you can lockdown a city and not implement social distancing

Babadee1900:
No. In February I pumped money into a project not knowing that the coming days will not be favorable.

Well nothing go happen.

Thats the spirit bro nothing dey happen no worry urself jor.

If I were you now I go just go sitdon for one joint now dey drink bear with pepper pkomo now.

If that LL do anyhow just call.

Projections gathered from recent events...
1. The lockdown in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun would be lifted on Monday (I hope so).
2. Lockdown would be implemented in Kano (Probably).
3. All Lagosians would be expected to put on masks when going out (Definitely).
4. Interstate movement across the country would be banned except for essentials (Definitely).
5. Churches, mosques, schools, clubs and other large gatherings would remain closed (I hope so).
6. 60 - 70% of salaried workers would not receive salaries for the month of April ( )
7. Hunger go catch plenty people...

Las Las, we would survive...

sexylassie2:


but is lockdown and social distancing not different?

you can lockdown a city and not implement social distancing

Experts say it's one of the control or steps or measures of Social distancing when speaking in respect to a pandemic

Several social distancing measures include isolation, quarantine, cancellation of mass gatherings...

northbird:
From look of things in Lagos,

I presume dey will do maybe 5am- 5pm n still ban religious gatherings.

N schools will resume maybe later in May for the school students who are writing terminal exams.

Or follow pattern of deir foreign counterparts

Who will take their children to school? Well maybe Ogba people. I'm very sure some people will not go out immediately govt lift the ban.
People won't go to school or church for a week or two.

Carshopper:


Experts say it's one of the control or steps or measures of Social distancing when speaking in respect to a pandemic

Several social distancing measures include isolation, quarantine, cancellation of mass gatherings...

lock down in my opinion is limiting movement in a city and not allowing people to move out of the city

I am tired of the lockdown as well but I don't think it's time for the lockdown to be called off...

To those saying the lockdown didn't work.....I hope you are right...but I am sure it worked as it showed us an indication of what is ahead....Those people tested so far are those with traveling history and those that came in contact with them...

Can we be rest assured that all those that came in contact has been fully located and tested (definitely No, My neighbor is one of the medical personnel at the isolation centre in onikan..she said Lagos is really under testing...and I ask why she said the test kit are so limited in supply and that ventilators are as well limited).

If the lockdown is called off or relaxed, we all Sabi as Lagos dey....our bus na hustle..bus stop na hustle...market na hustle..church na crowd..mosque crowd..felashrine crowd...qulox crowd....malls crowd....

If people still disobey the lockdown when it was so called in full flight...do u think when it's relaxed or totally called off people will not just go straight to normalcy.

Can any state in Nigeria handle a surge if things go south ( which I pray it doesn't)

Have u watched the channels TV interview with the deputy coordinator for the covid 19 in their state...he said a reported 640 death in one week..though natural death join but we all know something is wrong...that's because their governor is not proactive enough...



What do I suggest.

- This coming week government should make effort to create local response team in all local government and train personnel to Man those centres...every local government has office already ..that can be achieved in a week...they will deploy trained personnel from the isolation centres and general hospital with adequate PPEs

- Full sensitisation at local level...A team of people go into street with their mega phone...and share safety tips and proper explanation and maybe a small pamphlet with pictures.

- Those centres at local level will be there to test and absorb if any case arise and might be transferred to a mother centre (Onikan, IDH and any other created ) in case of severe issues.

- Government should as well invest in Test kit and ventilators atleast divert some more money to the health sector...

All this is attainable in two weeks....Then the government can relax the lockdown ...But forget it relaxing the lockdown is like suspending it...We all know our kind of mentality in Nigeria here...

My humble Opinion

sexylassie2:


lock down in my opinion is limiting movement in a city and not allowing people to move out of the city

Yes it is.. Noted

sexylassie2:


how? we are fighting against a virus we dont understand, something invisible that can spread without showing any sign of symptoms, something not used to us, nothing bad learning from the white man how to solve it

everywhere in lagos is crowded, the bus stops are crowded, the buses crowded, the malls crowded, offices crowded, churches crowded, market crowded, lagos is the smallest state in Nigeria with almost 13 million people living in it, that means that infrastructures does not serve the populace.

Lagos is a big ghetto, people living anyhow, jam pack to each other, that is why there is an increase in the rise of the virus, another city next to lagos is Kano

lagos and Kano will be immensely affected by corona virus, we are just in for a ride, soon the effect will all be in our faces.

Madam or what so ever you call yourself pls leave me alone let me go out and work because without doing that my wife won't have food to eat and my kids who don't understand what corona virus or lockdown means will starve to death right in my face just like you suggested.

I underatand u don't have a husband neither do you understand what it means to have a kid or for a breast feeding mother to go on feeding with little or no food in her stomach.

If they government can't provide for her citizens then why lock them I doors? If otherwise why would anyone complain?

So if the lockdown is lifted please madam u sit in ur house and allow those that want to go out do.

Keep your fears to yourself pls! Don't sell it to me I'm not buying.

The dialogue in this fight scene wan kill me!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akfRmCjbbQ8

BAZ001:
Let me derail the thread a little found it on a thread

The hard Truth!

Covid-19: Why Nigerians Must Not Worry But Stay Alive

By Ebiowei Lawal

When I read the news that crude oil price in the international market has dropped to about $11 or $12 per barrel, I was reminded about an interview I watched on the NTA Network Service. That night, the person featured on the interview program was an American born Economist (I have forgotten his name). He visited Nigeria to validate the speculation that Nigeria was actually the Giant of Africa.

In course of the interview, the interviewer asked "you have spent two weeks in Nigeria carrying out your research about the strength of her economy, what are your findings?" He replied "well, I wouldn't say I enjoyed my stay really but I discovered that Nigeria is the strongest economy in the world."

He went on to explain that "I have not said she is the most prosperous economy of the world, mind you. I say so because Nigeria happens to be the largest economy that can survive with the absence of government support except in the area of ensuring security, law and order.

"In America for example, the Wall Street would crash if there is failure of public power supply for two hours. In London the transportation system would fail and there would be huge economic loss if there is power failure for two hours. There would be chaos and breakdown of law and order if government fails to supply water and gas to the people for one week.

"But in Nigeria, the government fails to provide health facility, the people don't complain. Private individuals provide it at high cost, they live with it without complaints. The government fails to provide quality education, private individuals provide it at high cost, they embrace it and live with it without complaints.

"The government fails to provide electricity for local industries to thrive but when private individuals want to start a business, they use their personal funds to purchase a power generating set and buy fuel at very high cost to run their business then still feel comfortable paying multiple tax to the same government.

"When the government fails to provide public transportation for the free movement of goods and services, in Nigeria a private individual would somehow source for funds to buy a car and convert it to a cab to ensure the free flow of goods and services and at the end pay tax to that same government and feel cool about it.

"So in a nut shell, Nigeria's economy is surviving almost without the support of her government. But take away 50 per cent support of government from the so called great economies of America, England, Germany, France, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa and Japan, their economies would crumble within weeks."

So my take home from this interview is that when crude oil was selling at $65 per barrel before Covid-19 came, Nigerians didn't feel the effect. Rather it is a selected few that keeps looting the money. Now that crude oil is selling at $11 or $12 per barrel, we still do not feel the impact. The only problem of the average Nigerian is the fact that he/she has been deprived the freedom to go out to look for daily bread.

At the end, I believe we shall overcome.

The only fear with oil price crashing is if they don't see money to loot they turn attention to the subjects, then you will hear about many taxes and levies being introduced.

Gentlelife50:


The only fear with oil price crashing is if they don't see money to loot they turn attention to the subjects, then you will hear about many taxes and levies being introduced.

"Nigerians don't complain", we will get used to it again.

I appreciate you

Chymak:


I so much love ur resolutions after reading all thru the pages.I am actually in same moves wt you...Waiting for this lockdown to be over to arrange my Mack CH direct tokunbo,spring suspension, 10 gears, double axle,mechanical engine..I have reached all levels of pple in same runs and bro, self-managing is the major secret...I don't think I am a fool wt a resolution to quit my good paying job so as to fight for my interests and self emplymnt before I hit 45...You are on good moves OFIME and prayers build safety in world of jazz and evil...Like you said, bury pride, follow ur driver as whatever, learn the whole trick, get to learn parts and costs, don't be carried away by profits,make out time to make ur researches, visit mechanics at odd time and stay wt them to learns the parts and costs, tip them cos u be the Oga and watch them give u infos, I bet u in 6 months, you will knw all...More to it bro... No going back

Okay I'll do just that thanks

Chymak:


Efime , Look up for thread from the profile Jam04 Info that can encourage ur passion abounds though wt all caution

Babadee1900:
The bolded is my major concern. This will be my first renewal in the apartment and I really don’t want to create a bad impression. We go they alright at the end sha, I believe I am not the only one in this.

The only thing that torments me in my dream is the RENT.

*smile* a lot of ppl r in dis boat, but it all depend on ur landlord tho, but no matter how inhuman he/she is, there is no reason to let that bug you as long as ur as a person is being truthful to yourself.
1. Light is not being disconnected
2. Debitor r not paying any debit at dis Moment
3. Folks r scared of official letters at this point in time, both promotion letter will b assumed as sacked later and may cos HBP
Everything is on still right now and the aftermath seems to b d most scary part, best you can do is to liaise with your landlord after the lockdown when you've carefully study SWOT of d virus and sincerely tell him when and how you will b able to pay the rent, then he can read the riot act to you las las its all about deliberation after the lockdown, anything outside that is somewhat not obtainable

My rent ends next month and I honestly don't have plan to pay next month. My landlord saw me the other day... Mr so so d tin affect u too, dis one I saw ur face at home today. I crack a smile and jokely slot my msg in... Sir, what can we do, now that they've turned house to isolation centre, we both laff and get on.

pope191:


*smile* a lot of ppl r in dis boat, but it all depend on ur landlord tho, but no matter how inhuman he/she is, there is no reason to let that bug you as long as ur as a person is being truthful to yourself.
1. Light is not being disconnected
2. Debitor r not paying any debit at dis Moment
3. Folks r scared of official letters at this point in time, both promotion letter will b assumed as sacked later and may cos HBP
Everything is on still right now and the aftermath seems to b d most scary part, best you can do is to liaise with your landlord after the lockdown when you've carefully study SWOT of d virus and sincerely tell him when and how you will b able to pay the rent, then he can read the riot act to you las las its all about deliberation after the lockdown, anything outside that is somewhat not obtainable

My rent ends next month and I honestly don't have plan to pay next month. My landlord saw me the other day... Mr so so d tin affect u too, dis one I saw ur face at home today. I crack a smile and jokely slot my msg in... Sir, what can we do, now that they've turned house to isolation centre, we both laff and get on.

wat of nepa bill? Who don pay?

hefelove:

LMAO boss he's talking about Honda Civic

You must be very funny.. but I didn’t know it. Should I lie when I didn’t know it. See! am not an Auto guy like that ok. xDD

1daboi:
wat of nepa bill? Who don pay?

Pay ke all man on the low, I deh envy my neighbour blowing Gen anyhow, he's the real MVP

I apologize for the lengthy read

People frustrated with lockdown need to read this ER doctor's journal
https://www.upworthy.com/er-doctor-coronavirus-journal-entries

With protests around the country over pandemic lockdowns, it's clear that many Americans are frustrated—and understandably so. We're in a frustrating situation, where leaders and public health officials have to make impossible decisions based on constantly changing data, with terrible consequences resulting from every choice.

But some folks seem to be a bit unclear on exactly what these lockdowns have been preventing. In areas that haven't been hard hit, the measures feel like an overreaction. That's why we need to be reminded of the real, dire human toll this virus will take if allowed to spread. And not just in numbers, which are too easy to dismiss, but in stories that describe the reality of what can happen anywhere the virus is allowed to take hold.

Jason Hill, an ER doctor at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, shared some of his personal journal entries during the peak of New York's outbreak. They offer a painful but beautifully crafted window into why we've been locking down and must continue to do what it takes to keep the spread to a minimum.

Dr. Hill wrote on Facebook on April 15:

"Thanks for all the bday wishes. Several people have asked me about what it's been like in the ER with Covid. I'd done some journaling the last couple weeks. As I turn forty this is how my head, heart, and soul have been occupied.

Covid at 40.

The eyes stay with you. In peace time most of those we intubate are chronically ill, or profoundly confused, or unconscious and unaware of the world around them. Covid has changed the equation. Most of my patients now remain awake and alert until the end. These days the ER is permeated with frank conversations about death and dying and what a chance to live entails. It is a hard thing to tell a healthy and functional person who felt fine and well six days ago they may be dead in a day or two and humbly ask how aggressive they want us to be. A chance to live comes with the risk of dependence on life support and pain. The alternative is the guarantee of an imminent but peaceful death. I have never had more harrowing, more frequent, more brutally honest, more meaningful, more exhausting conversations in my life. Complete strangers open up to you in profound ways during such times and you can only hope both your expertise and your humanity serve them well. And the eyes stay with you.

For those I intubate, those who choose intubation, I often find myself having a final stare. After all the words are spoken, the decisions made, the medications drawn, the bed positioned, the tubes and drips and ventilators readied, there is a final stare. It is a stare of intention. It is a moment of humanity. It is a shared space, a hallowed space, the final moment of someone's awareness, possibly forever. It is a space where fear and hope mingle, where autonomy fades into trust, uncertainty into acceptance, and all they have left is placed firmly in your gloved hands. It's brief, and you're busy, and time is essential, but you find a few seconds to share this final breath. That stare lasts a moment. That stare lasts a lifetime. And the eyes stay with you.

I see them often in my mind, and although haunting I am glad to keep them with me. I warm my hands on the raw humanity inherent in such moments and they empower me to carry on. For carry on we must because the room is full of agony and sickness and fear that must be attended to quickly and humanely.

//

I am asleep before a long night shift. I awake to the sound of cheers and yells. To hooting and hollering. To the clanging of cow bells and the banging of drums. They yell and shout and scream to honor us. They shout from rooftops and ground floors and all the windows and balconies in between. I am asleep before a long night shift. It wakes me up. I am scared shitless. I think the building is on fire. I run around panicked and confused for several minutes. Why do the fire sirens sound like drums and cowbells? Do I even have a fire escape?? WTF is going on?? Oh. Ohhhhhhh. Ok. I get it now. My heart is still racing, but now I'm grinning. Thanks. I feel grateful…mostly.

//

Oxygen Rounds is a new term we have become all too familiar with. I have a hospital full of medications. Antibiotics and anti-virals and sedatives and vasopressors and steroids and opiates. But the only truly effective medicine we have is Oxygen. We blow it at high flow rates into people's mouths and nostrils, a crutch to help the lungs that are struggling and staggering. And it's in a shorter supply than I'd like. It flows forever from spickets on the walls, but we have many times more patients than spickets and even fewer rooms so an ever increasing number of patients on stretchers line hallways further and further from the spickets on the walls. We place portable tanks next to stretchers, but the tanks run out and we can't refill them fast enough. Once per hour, sometimes twice, I walk the halls, hunting for gauges approaching empty and hoping the cabinet holds a replacement. Invariably I find empty ones and hope it hasn't been empty long. Invariably someone is turning blue. It's no one's fault. it's everyone's fault. it's Covid's fault. And there just aren't enough eyes and hands to keep up. I mutter a promise to check three times next hour. I pull a step ladder from the utility closet and string plastic connecters end to end to end threading them from wall spickets through corrugated ceiling tiles to drop down above patients' heads in the hallway so they aren't reliant on a tank. It's hard to tell which knob goes to who, but at least it doesn't run out. It's a strange time when a step ladder becomes a more useful tool than a stethoscope.

//

I admitted four of my colleagues today. Four of them. They had the usual symptoms. A week or so of cough and chills, fever and body aches, fatigue and loss of smell. They stayed at home and took Tylenol and sipped chicken soup and wondered which patient they had gotten it from. They stayed inside and washed their hands and waited to feel better. But better never came. The cough worsened, they had trouble walking around their home without getting winded, and they knew all too well what that meant, so they came, each of them, not knowing the others were doing the same. I'm in a room with four chairs housing four colleagues with oxygen flowing into their four noses. I'm used to seeing strangers, people I care about because they're human, but a stranger still. I can maintain a detached distance. This is different. These are my friends and colleagues. These are the people I suit up with and go to battle beside. This is my team. I've had harrowing experiences beside them for years. They keep me sane and effective and capable. Together we've saved lives and lost lives and everything in between. But now they are on the other side of the curtain. Their coughs hurt my ears more, their fear becomes my fear, I check on the them to the point of harassment, can't help it, can't fix it, they're on a path I can't cure, can only support through. Can only stand beside them and hope. They try to reassure me, a strange role reversal that belies their strength. I well up with a deep respect. I well up with tears. The front line really feels like the front today.

//

The makers are my favorite people this week. Several days ago I intubated without a face shield. It was three in the morning and we had run out. There were simply more intubations than face shields and we had burned through the stash. But a patient came in and was suffocating in their own lungs and needed a breathing tube, so they got one, and they got one from me, and I did not have the proper armor. Today I stand in a room with hundreds and hundreds of face shields. They are pulled hot off the 3D printers like newspapers off a press. They are arranged on tables by volunteers who add elastic bands and attach shields to complete the ensemble. In the background the gentle hum of a dozen printers working around the clock is an echo of the thousands of engineers and designers, seamstresses and manufacturers, cooks and delivery workers and writers all contributing to the cause. Each shield is a person protected. Each volunteer is a soldier in the fight. I feel less alone.

//

Oxygen means something different in this new reality. In peace time an oxygen level below 95% is bad. An oxygen level below 95% on a non-rebreather face mask is terrifying. That's a no-brainer. That gets fixed quickly or that gets intubated. Everything is different now. We hang facemasks of oxygen on people with 85-90% saturations for days. They are on the edge of the cliff with one foot dangling and there they stay. Will they inevitably fall off? Are we helping or merely delaying? No one knows. Ventilators are in short supply, ICU beds are full, and ICU docs are tired. We're all tired. So we temporize, hoping a few will sneak by and not get intubated. Hoping someone doesn't fall off the cliff when we aren't looking. The monitors don't help. They are all beeping and blaring all the time from every direction. The background music of a pandemic. They only tell us what we know, everyone is sick. Only our eyes and experience can help us now. I take another lap around the ER to check the cliffsides.

//

I'm baking a mask tonight. My single use N95 has been on my face for days. The backs of my ears are raw from the rubbing of its straps and my nostrils are filled with the scent of fibers mixed with my coffee flavored breath. My mask bakes and bakes, sterilizing it and killing any viral hitchhikers that attached themselves today. I wish I could do the same for someone's lungs. It comes out warm and toasty and clean. It comes out safe. I set it on the windowsill to cool, like an apple pie from easier days. Worst desert ever.

//

All hands were on deck today. Elective surgeries have been cancelled and the surgeons and anesthesiologists and neurologists and orthopedists and urologists and rehab specialists and pediatricians have been deputized as ER and ICU docs. Urology attendings and shoulder surgeons are rounding with ICU teams, adjusting ventillators, and drawing blood gases. Pediatricians are seeing adult patients and monitoring oxygen levels. Outpatient docs are working in tents in front of the ER to decompress volume. General surgeons are going from room to room to room putting in Central lines and Arterial lines on our sickest patients. Anesthesiologists are running in to intubate. It remains busy. It remains overrun with sickness and suffering. But today we have more help. Today we have reinforcements. Today we feel like one big army devoted to one fight. Today it feels like maybe, just maybe, we can keep up.

//

Es El Fin. Today I'm a palliative care doc. This man is not doing well. This man needs intubation to survive. He's 67 and only speaks Spanish. He's healthy. He's dying. His oxygen is very low. His respiratory rate is very high. He's getting tired. He's suffocating in his own body. He needs to be intubated. He doesn't want to be intubated. He doesn't want to be on a machine. We ask if we can help call his family to say goodbye. He looks at us puzzled, somehow still not fully understanding. Esta Muriendo senior. Es el fin. This is the end. He gets it. He's stoic despite the tears. He's strong. If this disease attacked character instead of lungs he would have a fighting chance. We set up a video call with his family. He says goodbye. They say they love him in a dozen different ways. He touches the screen. A digital hand hold in a pandemic age. We make him comfortable. He's still drowning but he can't feel it. He says thank you before his eyes close. I can't help but wonder if he would have survived had he been intubated. The odds say no. The sense of defeat within me screams maybe. I try to remind myself this is what he wanted. That this is for the best. I quickly forget.

//

I give out more juice and blankets than I ever have. In peace time the ER is busy, always busy, but most people are not dying. Very few are dying, and even fewer are acutely and actively dying. The scourge of Covid has rewritten those rules. Everyone in the ER tonight is too sick to go home. Many are dying. Many will never leave the hospital. Many will never have a meal or a juice box again. In peace times I often can't be bothered to bring someone juice. It's not a priority. Tonight anyone asking gets juice. Even those not asking get juice. Often it's the only comfort I can provide. A small ease of suffering. A brief distraction from the fear. It may be the last juice they ever drink. Some nights it's the best medicine I have.

//

We had a patient tonight that impaled her hand with a crochet needle. Right through her hand. Simple stuff for us. Easy to take care of. Three of us ran over. Two more than was necessary. An orthopedist playing ICU doc was walking by. He ran over. He was excited. We were all excited. This was not Covid. This was something we could fix. We did it together. Eight hands to do the job of two. We removed the needle, help it up like a trophy, washed it off and gave it back. Our patient smiled, said thank you, and went home in one piece. It was the best we'd felt in days.

//

My colleagues are tired. The patients keep coming. The ER is wall to wall misery and mayhem. Only five people died on me today. Only five. But everyone there is dying to varying degrees and at various rates. The ER is a cross section of the disease. The well who will stay well. The well who will come back much worse. The sick who are stable. The sick who are crashing. It's all around us. It keeps coming in through the front door. It keeps coming in through the ambulance bay. And my colleagues are tired. We give oxygen. Everyone staying gets oxygen. Needs oxygen. We try antibiotics. We try antivirals. We try hydroxychloroquine. This week we use steroids. This week we limit IV fluids. This week we give blood thinners. Does anything work? Are we saving anyone or just supporting them as they go along a path pre-determined by the virus coursing through their insides? Is the inevitable inevitable? Some days we just feel like spectators, front row observers going through the necessary motions of a play whose final act has already been written. So much death. So much dying. And my colleagues are tired. We're all tired. And yet somehow, for some reason, I find there's no place I'd rather be. I leave the ER, the sun has come up and I walk around enjoying its warm tendrils. Its quiet. Stores are shuddered, streets are empty, and sidewalks are bare. It seems peaceful. Its an illusion. But I appreciate it. Time to go home. Time to recharge. Tired won't last forever. Covid won't last forever. And there is still plenty of fight in us."

Imagine this being your current reality, then imagine what it must be like to see people protest the measures that are keeping that reality out of other communities. We're not doing all of this for nothing. Yes, it's frustrating, but we face nothing but frustrating options at the moment.

Thank you, Dr. Hill, for sharing your experiences and for doing your best to save lives. Let's hope people see the warning in your words and act accordingly.

Felicity0001:

Madam or what so ever you call yourself pls leave me alone let me go out and work because without doing that my wife won't have food to eat and my kids who don't understand what corona virus or lockdown means will starve to death right in my face just like you suggested.

I underatand u don't have a husband neither do you understand what it means to have a kid or for a breast feeding mother to go on feeding with little or no food in her stomach.

If they government can't provide for her citizens then why lock them I doors? If otherwise why would anyone complain?

So if the lockdown is lifted please madam u sit in ur house and allow those that want to go out do.

Keep your fears to yourself pls! Don't sell it to me I'm not buying.

Why is your finger always on the trigger? I quite like ur energy but must confess, u would do with some chill!!

Then about you going to the isolation center several times in this careless country,abeg post ur licence plate and pic and car so I can tell my family and friends to look out for and avoid you!

Like seriously!! Omo u get mind o! In this country where everything always turns out wrong.In short
we need to call NCDC to carry you into quarantine too

Even the whole yaba to me is already like Chernobyl