needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few ethics

There is no face-to-face contact-never, nor even between caregivers and patients. Many calls must be done in a stretched time frame and news is not always good. Doctors reportedly call the family once a day, to give quick feedback on the status of the patient with little room for questions. Distressed people then take care of depressed–stigmatized sick and lonely people, worsening an already bleak scenario ( 7). This scene replays itself in many hospitals all over the world, worsened by the teams of exhausted healthcare workers who are overwhelmed ( 5) and do not receive either psychological support or at least get enough rest ( 6). They stay in isolation, and in many cases, eventually die, without ever having had a chance to share a final world with their beloved ones.īeyond the Healthcare System, COVID-19 Patients When patients are transferred to medium or intensive care units, they completely lose connection with their family and friends. Patients with severe COVID-19 are hospitalized and left alone in a room where “spaceship-dressed” health professionals visit them, speaking behind their mask and shields, trying to keep their own social distance with the patient. One may argue that the situation, and the subsequent delay in seeking healthcare, would result in negative feedback that ends up sustaining disease spread in a population that is not willing to let their elders die in isolation. The fear of being alone in hospital is another barrier in seeking healthcare, and as the number of infected individuals increases within a community, more information on this “loneliness” is perceived and feared. Indeed, some have reported that the concern and anxiety of being discriminated against delay the presentation to healthcare services, and delayed diagnosis is associated with more severe disease, mainly in the elderly and in vulnerable groups ( 4). Dying alone is not justifiable, even in times of infection with a pandemic virus, particularly when the impact of imposing such a radical measure on the course of the epidemic is, at least, questionable. The pandemic has sufficiently disrupted and impaired people's livelihood worldwide, and every effort to prevent any additional suffering must be made. However, as the disease spreads through a community, suffering deepens due to strict procedures that, arguably, may be questioned from an ethical standpoint. Management guidelines are continuously updated based on emerging findings ( 3). Discourse and measures have been discussed focused on lockdown strategies, healthcare policies ( 2), application of emerging treatments, accelerated clinical trials, among others. The pandemic has caused universal psychosocial impact ( 1) and global economic disruption. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” on January 30th, 2020, and recognized its pandemic status on March 11th.

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been striking the world since it was first identified in December 2019 in China.

Needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few ethics