The head of the trauma team of a California medical center made a startling revelation that his area has seen more number of deaths due to suicides than Covid-19. He has blamed the lockdown restrictions behind the surge in the number of suicides.
According to Dr. Mike deBoisblanc of John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California, the shelter-in-place order is aggravating the mental health of residents and has called for an end to it. "Personally I think it's time", said Dr. deBoisblanc.
DeBoisblanc told ABC7 that he hasn't seen such a high number of suicides, in such a short time. His clinic witnessed a year's worth of suicide attempts in just four weeks. He, however, did not provide any figures to back his claim. Walnut Creek is situated in Contra Costa County that has reported 1,321 coronavirus cases and 36 fatalities.
Kacey Hansen, a trauma nurse for 33 years who works at the John Muir Medical Center said that not only the hospital is witnessing more suicide attempts, but they aren't able to save as many patients as they did in the past. According to her, she has never seen "so much intentional injury".
DeBoisblanc has blamed the shelter-in-place order put in place to contain the spread of novel coronavirus. According to him, although initially the order was implemented to flatten the curve and to make sure that hospitals had enough resources to treat the COVID patients, the community health is suffering as a result. He also claimed that the hospitals have enough resources to handle the coronavirus caseload.
The John Muir Medical Center chief told ABC7 that although it encourages its physicians and staff to participate constructively in such discussions, it supports the shelter-at-home order. It shares concern for the health of its community whether that is COVID-19, mental health, intentional violence or other issues, the medical center further added.
