An expert says that it is still unclear how the coronavirus disease or COVID-19 hit health care workers harder than their patients.
“We know the high mortality in older people, but for reasons we don’t understand, front-line health care workers are at great risk for serious illness despite their younger age,” Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston told CNN.
“There’s nothing more destabilizing than health care workers falling ill,” the health officer added. The expert adds that it may take time before they find out why the virus effect is harder to healthcare practitioners.
The American College of Emergency Physicians revealed that two doctors suffering from the coronavirus were in critical condition: a Washington physician in his 40s and a 70-year-old in Patterson, New Jersey.
No clear explanation yet on how the Washington doctor contracted the virus either through work or through community spread. The patient said that he had completed all infection control protocols. The New Jersey doctor, an emergency preparedness specialist, was admitted to a hospital with upper respiratory issues.
“As emergency physicians, we know the risks of our calling. We stand united with our colleagues,’ he added.
Last month, Dr. Li Wenliang hailed as a hero in Wuhan for sounding the alarm on the new virus has died after being exposed with the virus.
READ ALSO: Doctor in Hubei dies from coronavirus
At the time, the number of cases in China had just topped 31,000. They now stand at more than 170,000 worldwide.
“Maybe it’s due to a higher dose of virus they’re receiving,” Hotez hypothesized in his Monday interview with CNN.
In the Philippines, a medical doctor is also confined and tested positive for the virus at the Philippine Heart Center after treating a patient who also tested positive for the virus.
READ ALSO: Doctor is 4th coronavirus case in Quezon City
