‘Take this seriously,’ say Northwestern doctors in COVID-19 video

Northwestern Medicine physicians and medical experts on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic want the community to take the burgeoning global health crisis seriously.

Using selfie video messages filmed in their workplaces – in many cases between breaks from helping patients -- the experts urged everyone to stay home if they are feeling sick so as to not overwhelm the hospitals and health care workers. They strongly encouraged those who don’t think they’re at risk for contracting the virus to “step up,” “be responsible” and stop socializing in groups to contain the virus and flatten the curve of contamination.  

“If we start to see numbers like Italy, which we’re creeping toward, we are not going to have enough space in the hospitals and definitely not enough space in the ICUs for the people who are getting really sick from COVID,” said Dr. Seth Trueger, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine emergency medicine physician, in the video. 

The video includes urgent messages from 10 Northwestern health professionals who are now battling the virus in myriad ways.