Opinion: As a doctor in the Covid-19 era, I’ve learned that judging patients’ decisions comes easier than it should

Mrs. Gomes, my umpteenth patient of the day, is an older woman — only slightly older than myself — who came to the emergency department with a cough, an upset stomach, and diarrhea.

Compared to the constant train of patients with known and suspected Covid-19 I’ve already seen this shift, at least for now she belongs in the camp of the tired but otherwise well-appearing. There are no worrisome findings on her physical exam: a borderline fever, a solid oxygen saturation level, and a chest X-ray without the worrisome white puffs and fingerlike haziness common in the lower lungs of patients with Covid-19 pneumonia.

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