Dentaltown April 2020 - 18

professional courtesy
column

When COVID-19 Went Viral: A Timeline
I'm writing this on St. Patrick's Day, or the beginning
of our national self-quarantine, depending on whether
you're looking at a wall calendar or your TV. The new
coronavirus pandemic is such an unprecedented event
that I wanted to share some early thoughts, memories
and opinions about living and working through it.

At first, just an "overseas issue"
The earliest reports in January described an unfamiliar place on a faraway continent, and I felt only the
detached sadness that so many sad stories around the
world often inspire. By the end of the month, this world
event became closer when a friend asked if I could order
masks for his co-worker who lives in China; she was
afraid and resources were scarce. When I ordered him
a box of N-95 masks, I noticed even then that some
were showing as out of stock.
In February, we learned that Gonzaga University's
satellite campus in Florence, Italy, had closed and
ordered the students, including my son, to return home.
Meanwhile, I took a chilly trip to the Chicago Midwinter
meeting, then returned to Arizona and watched a spring
training game before driving to California for a long
spring break weekend with the kids. The coronavirus
was certainly a hot topic by that point, but nothing had
been canceled and American life continued to roll on.

An outbreak on U.S. soil
I returned to an abundance of message boards on
the subject and the more I read, the more I realized we
were facing a huge problem: a viral outbreak that had
been declared a pandemic and had infi ltrated cities
across the U.S., claiming dozens of lives (at that point).
In the practice, I asked our team
what they were hearing from patients:
Were people concerned? Any cancellations due to this situation? All was
normal on Thursday, March 12, and
we were off the next day because I
don't like to work on Friday the 13th.
That turned out to be a blessing,
because that long weekend revealed
some serious cracks in the system.

By Monday afternoon, Dentaltown's message boards
were abuzz as members shared information they'd
received from their state dental associations and it was
becoming clear that we'd soon need to shut our doors.
At our Tuesday morning huddle, I told the staff that
we'd go to emergency patients only for the next two
weeks, following advice from the CDC, to "flatten the
curve." As of this writing, Congress has not resolved
the issue of paid sick time, but I assured the team that
they'd be paid for the next two weeks as if they'd worked
a regular schedule. I can't begin to describe the visible
relief and their appreciation of that gesture.

What lies ahead, hope or dread?
Time will tell how the rest of this story goes, but
I hope by the time this issue hits your mailbox, we're
all back to joyfully restoring teeth from the ravages of
tooth decay and occlusal forces.
Looking ahead, we'll be faced with many financial,
logistical and emotional challenges. Based on current
conversations, we're likely to receive some relief from
the government on sick pay for at least two weeks and
I'm also curious to see our options for handling the loss
of revenue. When this trickled into our corner of the
world, I gave my team a form to track every canceled
appointment associated with COVID-19. Rescheduling
that many patients is going to be tedious, and it will likely
force us to give up some precious days out of the office.
The emotional challenges include wondering how
long before I can cough in public without turning heads,
when can I shake hands again, and when will the general
public go back to not washing their hands? Some more
practical questions: How long before the worldwide
supply and demand for toilet paper is back in balance?
What would life be like if caries or gum disease received
the same attention as COVID-19? When a vaccine is
eventually developed and approved, will people get it
or blow it off like they do the flu vaccine? Let's not do
this again next year.
Please share your current situation in the numerous
COVID-19 threads on Dentaltown.com, or in the
comments section of this article online. I'm also available
via email: tom@dentaltown.com. ■

by Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, editorial director, Dentaltown magazine

APRIL 2020 // dentaltown.com

DT0420_ProfessionalCourtesy_AG.indd 18

3/19/20 10:43 AM

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Dentaltown April 2020

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