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COVID-19
WHERE TO FROM HERE

stration program that stopped thousands of hospital beds
from being built. That caused a “shortage” of beds there
and elsewhere.

One quite positive consequence of the COVID-19 pan-
demic is the adoption of telemedicine. The federal govern-
ment loosened the regulatory grip and allowed many types of
telemedicine platforms to exist, which helped patients and
physicians alike. Additionally, businesses are now looking at
whether or not to have employees come to an office to work
when it is possible to work from home remotely. Time will tell
how this trend will ultimately play out; however, flexibility in
the workplace was an unanticipated consequence of the pan-
demic.
There are many lessons yet to learn, and this is by no means
an exhaustive list, given restraints in writing an article; however,
I wanted to share these thoughts on some of the significant
lessons learned, and surely there will be many more to come.
In closing, we need to be careful NOT to create panic and
confusion with the American people. We cannot mitigate all
deaths or all injuries; people must take responsibility for their
own actions, but at the same time must consider how their ac-
tions impact other people. We can manage the vulnerable pop-
ulation (i.e., those over 65, especially with comorbidities), and
allow others to conduct themselves appropriately (keeping a
safe distance, washing hands, exercising, eating healthy). Fargo
North Dakota is not the same as New York City, and we
should not mandate measures for Fargo as we do for New
York City.

LESSONs LEARNED:
1. Telemedicine is here to stay and in instances of infectious
disease, it is a godsend.
2. While medical providers can treat the afflicted and warn
the vulnerable, people need to be responsible for them-
selves and considerate of how what they do impacts oth-
ers.
3. Crises lead to sensationalism in the press, in social media
and the like. We must learn to differentiate between the
real and the sensationalized. That requires time and fact
checking. It can mean sickness or health to each of us.

Be wise and be well!

Alan Preston works in the area of Population Health
Management and has a doctorate in Science in Epidemiol-
ogy and Biostatistics from Tulane University and has spent
his entire career in the healthcare space.
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