As virus cases rise, a local physician questions reopening without mask requirement
Although he has already recovered from COVID-19 and has tested as having “a ton” of antibodies, Dr. Tim Alford wears a mask almost any time he is in public these days. The physician, an emergency room doctor at Baptist Memorial Hospital - Attala, knows he cannot spread the virus, nor does he believe he can get it again.
But he believes in being an example.
“I’ve been harassed about wearing a mask, but this is serious stuff that I just don’t joke about,” he said, especially after his first-hand experience of combatting COVID-19 personally.
Alford contracted the virus early on. When community leaders met to discuss potential response to the virus on March 16, there were only 10 cases in the entire state, none of which were in Attala County.
Based on his employment as an emergency room doctor who might become exposed to the virus, Alford moved into the basement of his home, away from his wife, Mary Al, in order to protect her. A week later, on March 23, he began showing symptoms.
“They were subtle at first... a scratchy throat and a cough. Then my taste and smell circuit blew on the third day of showing symptoms,” he told The Star-Herald this week. “Then came the full gravity of a flu-like feeling, mostly in the afternoon and at night, followed by almost hallucinatory thinking.”
A test confirmed the virus, but 15 days after the symptoms started, he had two negative tests and he has since also been tested for antibodies. When that test showed he had a significant buildup of antibodies, he became the fifth person in the state to donate plasma, which is being used in treatment of some COVID-19 patients.
As the length of time since Mississippi opened back up grows longer, the number of individuals testing positive is growing at an alarming rate, according to Alford.
“Opening back up has correlated for people that we can let our guard down,” he said. “It’s all about behavior and how sober people want to be about approaching an invisible contagion.”
Alford said the surging numbers are already having a negative impact on the healthcare system in the state, including the hospital where he works.
“Working in the ER, there have been several shifts where I could not refer patients to Jackson because there was no bed available in Jackson,” he said, noting that as COVID-19 cases surge, Jackson hospitals have had to convert regular beds to COVID-19 care.
“Once that bed gets taken by a COVID patient, you’re looking at a week or more. It begins to clog up the works,” Alford said.
The physician is concerned about the impact of politics on virus response from both leaders and the citizens.
“I’m wondering if we’ll get over that. I had hoped that politicians would mirror as best they could the public health community,” he said.
“We need to be following our healthcare leaders ... Dr. Fauci nationally and Dr. Dobbs here,” Alford said. “I think Dobbs is frustrated. I do think the governor listens to him, but I do think we opened up too fast, too aggressively and not carefully enough.”
While some suggest that more testing is resulting in a higher number of cases, Alford looks at the rate of positives as a more meaningful indicator.
“For instance, look at Texas. They have a 16% to 20% rate of positives,” he said. And with current policies, Alford suspects Mississippi may be similar.
“In May, we had 200-300 cases in the state and now here we are in June with 20,000 cases and adding 1,000 cases every day or every other day,” he said.
The fact that wearing or not wearing masks has become an act of politics rather than health is having dire consequences likely to worsen, he said.
“It is going to prolong this and have a much worse effect on our economy and cause more death. Short-term political gains (of reopening the economy) are not going to help this,” he said.
Alford said that the greater community could follow the lead of the healthcare community and address both the health and economic impacts of the pandemic. He believes that mandating masks would not only prevent spread of the disease, but offer a safer way for businesses to open and operate.
“Look at healthcare. We don’t shut things down. But we identify ways to prevent the spread and we identify and keep apart those who have the virus. You wear a mask more for others’ protection,” he said. “Wearing masks is kind of a life preserver for our economy. It might be uncomfortable, but it avoids having to shut things down.”
It also saves lives, he said.
“There is a way to contain this. It is for people to start wearing a freaking mask and get over an almost adolescent rebellious response to being told to,” he said. “I hate wearing one myself, but if it keeps your grandma, my wife and my loved ones from getting this, then it is what I’ll do.”
