My thoughts below are based on medical decision making. I am NOT commenting on decisions made by workplace rules/regulations etc. My job is and always has been to help think thru medical issues. I enjoy my job as a physician. I would not enjoy my job if I was a bureaucrat having to abide by rules/regs that either don’t apply, don’t make sense or hold me back from doing my best job.
These past two weeks the calls I have fielded the most are:
“Should I get tested?”
or
“Where can I get tested”
Now a few years ago I would have responded : “Tested for what?”
But in todays dystopian world the TEST everyone is seeking is for the dreaded COVID.
FYI- I prefer to perform medical tests when the results of those tests give me information that is medically actionable, meaning that information derived from the test will CHANGE the course of medical treatment.
In other words the test result may alter the treatment plan.
Usually the only people capable of authorizing, performing and analyzing the results of medical tests were practicing healthcare professionals. But somehow since 2020 businesses, governments, workplaces, travel destinations, etc, etc, etc are ordering or mandating tests be performed before being allowed to take part in society. The world has been on a testing frenzy to find pieces of a microscopic virus anywhere and everywhere. A problem here is that interpretation of the test results is not always straightforward. There are many nuances to these tests and not understanding these aspects can create confusion, or shall I say mass confusion. Perhaps mass confusion is what those advocating for expanded testing want? I sure hope not but that is dystopian world thinking.
Back in early 2020 COVID tests were ramped up so high many mainstream media outlets had COVID counters prominently displayed on their screens for all to see. It was like their aim was to find COVID everywhere and anywhere, almost like the media had an agenda or a story to tell, which as I say is usually fiction. Problem was and still is that the tests were not very specific for COVID and had many false positives, meaning that many of the positive tests may not have been COVID but were actually a different cold virus or even the flu. Remember last year when we thought the flu had disappeared?? Well it probably did not disappear but was instead labeled as COVID. Think about this a moment. A normal flu epidemic would not have allowed government to do what they have done to society and restrict long held freedoms. But making all of us believe that a new deadly virus was rampant, well I think we have all seen what has occurred. Are you ready yet to demand your freedoms back?
Question. Think back to 2015, what seems like ages ago.
If someone said their “test” was positive with a scared look on their face, what do you think the test revealed?
At present the Moronic strain of COVID is quickly escalating throughout our area and most of the world. This strain is more contagious than both the original Wuhan strain as well as the more recent Delta strain. But unlike those strains the Moronic strain appears to be much less deadly. The super super majority of people who contract the Moronic strain get cold symptoms and at worst flu like symptoms that can last about a week. We believe this is due to the Moronic strain mostly affecting the upper airways of the sinuses and nasal passages. It is far less likely to affect the lungs than previous strains. Less infection in the lungs means less breathing difficulties, less chance of Pneumonia and much less chance of needing hospital level care. In fact so far I have yet to have sent anyone to the hospital with this strain even though I am in the midst of treating more people with this COVID strain than any other over the past two years.
So what does that imply?
To me it says continue to work on improving your immune system so if you get exposed you can clear the virus quicker.
It also implies that we may not need to continue testing everyone with mild symptoms.
Think about it for just a moment.
Unless you are a high risk person, the treatment for the Moronic strain is going to be mostly supportive without any prescription medications needed. Occasionally an antibiotic if you get a secondary infection but so far this has been in the minority of cases. The words Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine are rarely needed with this strain which is welcome news since those words have become politicized by government authorities and my job is to help you medically. My job is not to have to argue with politicians and bureaucrats.
So medically I don’t see the need at present to continue the COVID testing extravaganza. It is not helping and is just creating more issues, most NOT being medical.
So until this strain burns out and we finally achieve herd immunity, If you have bad cold symptoms then you most likely either have a cold, the Flu or the Moronic strain of COVID. Here is the rub. The treatment for all three are the same.
Stay home.
Rest.
Stay hydrated.
There are many OTC treatments available so talk to your healthcare professional about what may be helpful. If you are a member of the IMW, get in touch and we can help guide you through possible treatments specific for you. Testing is warranted mainly if you are high risk or perhaps if you live with a high risk person.
So medically I am done with recommending COVID testing for cold symptoms. Hopefully all the non-medical people who are recommending testing stop as well and head back to their lane and get out of mine. Let healthcare professionals do the job they were trained to do instead of a third parties bidding.
We don’t need quarantines, lockdowns, vaccines or passports. We don’t need mandates. We don’t need a jab to keep a job to prevent what has morphed into a bad cold. So it’s time for government to get out of the COVID response and leave it to healthcare professionals on the front line evaluating and treating people every day to take the lead. Have the government support healthcare professionals instead of mandating and “protocoling” everything we do. When that happens the COVID pandemic will officially be over.
I will then be so so happy as I can go back to what I enjoy most in my practice.
I call it the IMW WOW or The Institute for Medical Wellness Working On Wellness. This is where we help improve your health, slow down the aging process, reduce your need for medications, and help you become a more vibrant and active person.
To Good Health!
Unfortunately, I am required to test weekly to keep my job with these nasal swabs. A company comes in that is hired by the government to administer the COViD swab, which then gets sent to the lab that runs the PCR analysis. This is your tax dollars at work here! The unvaccinated are all testing negative. Only the staff that has had the COViD shots are getting COViD.
I fully agree. And, to add to the list of all things ludicrous, before the “powers that be” promote widespread testing perhaps they should insure availability. At this point testing is the new “toilet paper” except there has always been a very real need for the latter and I doubt anyone gets all that rich from it’s production and sales.