NYC Doctor Argues for Opening up America

The Town has done its due diligence, now is the time to open up.

In an essay published in the New York Post, Dr. Daniel Murphy, chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx laid out why America should strongly consider reopening.

According to Murphy, who actually contracted COVID-19, the “wave has crested.”

“At 1 p.m. on April 7, the COVID-19 arrivals slowed down. It was a discrete, noticeable event,” he wrote. “Stretchers became available by 5 p.m., and the number of arriving COVID-19 patients dropped below the number discharged, transferred or deceased.”

His ER has seen a significant drop in non-COVID patients. In fact, his ER, which he said normally sees 240 patients per day, is now averaging fewer than 100.

“That means our patients in this diverse, low-income community are afraid to come to the ER for non-COVID care,” Murphy explained.

Murphy said the “unfortunate consequence of the stay-at-home strategy” is that growing numbers of people are dying at home because they are afraid to seek out medical help.

“Inordinate fear misguides the public response,” Murphy explained. “While COVID-19 is serious, fear of it is being over-amplified. The public needs to understand that the vast majority of infected people do quite well.”

Murphy said that more people have contracted COVID-19 than have tested positive for the virus. This is due to the fact that a significant number of COVID-positive patients are asymptomatic.

“Many New Yorkers already have the COVID-19 infection, whether they are aware of it or not. As of today, over 43 percent of those tested are positive in The Bronx. We are developing a significant degree of natural herd immunity,” Murphy explained. “Distancing works, but I am skeptical that it is playing as predominant a role as many think.”

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Wayne Creed

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