TeenHelp - Remember to care for yourself during the COVID-19 pandemic!

Remember to care for yourself during the COVID-19 pandemic!
By Anonymous

The pandemic that we’ve come to know as COVID-19 is a contagious disease within the coronaviridae family which originated in Wuhan, China during the final months of 2019. The pandemic, which is approaching its second year, has taken a significant toll on the global human population — even in Antarctica!

Thousands of individuals have lost their lives as a direct result of the pandemic; while the lives of others got turned upside down with either the loss of their jobs or having to resort to online learning via Zoom or Google Hangout video conferences. However, there is another group that’s been impacted by the pandemic.

“From the beginning of the pandemic, health experts were concerned that millions of Americans would defer treatment of existing illnesses—including cancer—and postpone routine preventative screenings given the justifiable fear of contracting COVID-19.”

- Tempus, article released April 19th 2021

What a lot of people don’t realize is that the pandemic is the third, fourth, and sixth leading cause of Americans neglecting or postponing urgent medical care during the pandemic for reasons other than direct pandemic-related concerns. According to the bar graph, from the same sourced article:

- 34% of the reason was due to hassle of scheduling an appointment
- 29% of the reason was due to doctors not allowing appointments
- 26% of the reason was due to the hassle of going to an appointment.

This is based on a survey performed between March 17th and 27th 2021 of 1,078 Americans.

The healthcare system is already in a major need of an overhaul, being under a lot of stress and pressure from focusing on pandemic related illnesses and shortage of space or supplies in hospitals. The ones who are struggling to battle cancer and other terminal illness could ultimately lose their life as a result of this.

It’s as important as ever to check in on yourself, and your loved ones, to see if there’s anything that deviates from a chronic illness or disorder. Being proactive could save your life.