We're getting closer to control of COVID-19, but protective measures still important

On Dec. 31, 2019, China first reported a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan Province. By Jan. 7, the Chinese health authorities confirmed this was a novel coronavirus. Approximately three weeks later, on Jan. 30, there were 10,000 cases in at least 21 countries including the first confirmed case in the United States.

We saw horrific stories on the news but never imagined this would happen in the United States. We were wrong.

The virus has now spread to nearly 750,000 Americans in all 50 states with nearly 40,000 deaths. More than 17,600 of those deaths occurred in New York alone. Chicago was predicted to be the next hot spot.

The first case in Illinois was diagnosed on Jan. 24 and admitted to one of our neighboring hospitals. Cases No. 3 and No. 4 were diagnosed and admitted to Northwest Community Hospital on Feb. 29 and March 2. It suddenly became very real for all of us. We jumped into action, activating our Incident Command Center as staff from both the Centers for Disease Control and the Illinois Department of Public Health descended upon us.

An extremely aggressive screening process was rapidly implemented, and our infection prevention protocols were tightened in a manner we had never before experienced.

Over the next several weeks, the numbers in Illinois began to grow. On April 9, the governor issued a disaster proclamation. The National Guard was deployed to support the operational response, and we all watched in fear as McCormick Place Convention Center was converted to a temporary hospital. Would that really become necessary?

Schools were closed on March 13, and bars/restaurants were closed two days later. In an effort to stop this seemingly unending progression and attempt to escalate the social distancing measures, a "Stay at Home Order" was issued on March 20, initially for just 17 days but soon expanded to April 30. What was previously unimaginable, has now become part of our daily lives. Would it work?

Many predictive models have been developed and we followed them closely in order to plan for the upcoming surge. We have all been hoping to "flatten the curve" and avoid the catastrophic outcomes experienced in other areas like China, Italy and even New York.

By most accounts, the peak in Illinois was predicted to be between April 11 and April 18. There was a predicted shortage of hospital beds, ICU beds and ventilators in addition to a major shortage of healthcare personnel available to treat these patients. That fearful time period is now past, and we all await the daily stats with anxious anticipation.

I ask that you all take comfort in the fact that we, in our service area, appear to be making a difference. We are no longer predicting a shortage of beds, ICUs or even ventilators in our area. Our number of COVID-19 patients continues to climb every day, but we do indeed appear to be flattening the curve. I ask each of you to remain diligent, because this is far from over. At the same time, be optimistic that our aggressive measures do in fact appear to be working.

This crisis has taken a tremendous toll on all of us in so many ways - financial, psychological, physical and more. There is no way to measure the full impact, but one thing is clear. We have all come together to fight this crisis and we will get through this. We will get back to life as we once knew it, but each of us will somehow be changed forever.

That time is close, but it has not yet arrived, so please continue following protocols, maintain social distancing, wash your hands frequently and isolate immediately if you become symptomatic. I ask you all to continue to be safe and a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you. You are making a difference.

• Alan B. Loren, M.D. is Chief Medical Officer at Northwest Community Healthcare in Arlington Heights. This essay was originally published as a daily update on COVID-19 and distributed to NCH employees.