COVID-19 Impacts Beyond the Illness

COVID-19 has ravaged communities and left a death count like nothing we’ve ever witnessed. We live in interesting times, indeed. Even among those whom the virus hasn’t directly touched in terms of illness, the economic impact and struggles of living through this period of time have been widespread leaving no one completely untouched. And repercussions are still being sorted out even as the case count continues to rise.

COVID-19's Effects on Healthcare

According to The American Journal of Managed Care, doctors saw a 68% decline in their patients’ services in April of 2020. This steep drop was a direct result of COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing requirements as people chose to put off things they would normally have gone in for. The WHO reports that disruptions in services have led to some people seeing delays in necessary treatments as well and the impact of these delays are not yet being measured.

People suffering from hypertension, diabetes, cancer and numerous other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are going without services, some even finding themselves without access to vital medications. Many NCDs can increase a person’s chances of suffering severe illness if they do catch COVID-19, which could complicate impacts even further. Just as pressing, lack of care for many of these conditions could also increase mortality rates for those conditions even without the added risks from Covid-19 infection.

Medical News Today reports that reduced services, combined with moves to online venues for school, could negatively affect childhood vaccination schedules. Because many students are likely to study from home for another year, more parents might delay recommended immunizations simply because there’s no enforcement. The resulting drops in herd immunity might allow many diseases once nearly wiped out in the United States such as mumps, rubella and polio, to resurface. Only time will tell with this one, unfortunately.

Delays in Supplies Due to COVID-19

The pandemic has affected supply and demand lines well beyond the need for toilet paper and disinfecting wipes. Surges across the country in urgent medical care have hit medical facilities especially hard, according to the American Hospital Association. The high need for medical equipment has exhausted many suppliers, increasing costs, and potentially affecting the quality of care.

In August of 2020, the FDA stepped in by publishing lists of supplies they found to be in limited supply or no longer available. The agency has also worked to address the shortages by organizing Emergency Use Authorizations for life-saving equipment, such as requesting N95 respirator purchases be reserved for medical personnel during the peak of the crisis.

And of course, we're all aware that there has been a surge in public land use which has challenged the management teams of these facilities in ways they never anticipated.

As of mid-October 2020, COVID-19 is far from gone, and its impacts may linger in many and varied uncomfortable ways. Beyond the infection itself, this virus has proven it has the power to crush medical establishments and leave patients hanging on for help and it's challenged supply lines and forced us all to consider our preparedness in times of crisis. And while we wait for it all to sort itself out, people are dying. If experts have learned anything from all this devastation, hopefully, it’s that we need to be better prepared for whatever might come next — and that we need to do better by our public support systems.

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