Surfing the Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic as a Cardiovascular Clinician
Payal Kohli, Salim S. Virani
Abstract
he way we practice medicine during the coronavirus disease 2019 (CO-VID-19) pandemic is unprecedented.The healing power of the face-to-face visit and the human touch are no longer privileges afforded to us.Clinical decisions previously made on the basis of appropriate diagnostic testing and careful contemplation are now made on the basis of intuition because of a lack of testing resources.Therapies administered on the basis of data from rigorously conducted clinical trials have been replaced with therapies that are based on anecdotal evidence.The novel coronavirus has, in a few months, collapsed the global economy, changed the landscape of healthcare delivery, and left many types of casualtieshuman and nonhuman-in its wake.Our only defense is to flatten the curve of destruction by practicing social distancing.It is a paradox that as we flatten the curve of infection, we may inadvertently steepen the curve of non-guideline-based healthcare delivery.