Author: Dr. Michael Johnson

First things first is not a matter of what you believe. It is a matter of science. It is a matter of what can be proven. It is not a matter of how you feel about something. It is a matter of the objective evidence.

Before we can talk about what works and doesn’t work for this illness Coronavirus we must define what is and isn’t true. Let’s talk science.

In medical clinical science we always use studies that we call double blinded. That is a study where neither the participant in the study who is being tested nor the people doing the test
know the difference between the medicine being tested or the placebo or sugar pill.

A random group of participants as well and a random group of testers are given at least two samples. One sample is a known proven medication and the other is a placebo. Neither group knows which is which.

That is called a double blind test. Neither the person being tested or the one doing the test knows what is being injected with a needle ingested by mouth or applied to the skin.

This is different from anecdotal results. Anecdotal results are very common. A medicine is given to people who expect a response or result. They expect that response based upon what they have read and what the person providing the medication has told them to expect. The problem with anecdotal results is These cannot be controlled for outcomes.

They are biased by the input of the provider of the medication and the recipient. The desired outcome may actually be real but it is impossible to determine the reality because there is no baseline. Snake oil, rabbits foot and tiger’s teeth and eye of newt are examples of treatments that have anecdotal good results.

I feel better because you told me I would and my friend said it would work. Anecdotal results.

Given the rush to find a cure or treatment or even preventative measure all kinds of theories rumors and traditional cures are coming to the forefront.

I want to caution you that you must avoid any study that has not gone through this rigorous proof of a double blinded study.

Your friends, family members and of course news hosts and politicians will give you a variety of treatments and cures that have not been verified by this rigorous double blinded testing. Anecdoctal results are being hurriedly pushed to the front by seasoned politicians and television broadcasters. Even the FDA has been forced to promote studies they don’t support.

One of the most prominent is the rush to use anti malarial medicines. Another on the horizon is anti tuberculosis medicine. Vitamin C, even Viagra. They haven’t pushed eye of newt yet.

I repeat, none of these have been through controlled clinical trials. The best way is prevention. It has been said numerous times before prevention is better than cure.

Stay-at-home unless it is absolutely essential to go out. If you go out wear some kind of protective facial gear over your mouth preferably a surgical mask or N95 mask. Frequently wash your hands. Frequently wash the surfaces that you touch with soap and water or a disinfectant wash the Items, that you purchase with soap and water or disinfectant and the fruits and vegetables should be immersed in water and cleansed thoroughly.

Social distancing is the new norm. Get tested if you are at risk. Those at risk are health care providers and the people they care for.

For now there is no treatment for the Corona virus only for the complications it causes. The complications are respiratory failure. Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and similar medications are the only treatments.

Keep in touch with your doctor and other health care providers.

Call me; Dr. Michael Johnson at 215-644-8745 if you can’t get answers.

Please avoid the Rumors. Don’t Chase after miracle cures. Avoid sending out links to conspiracy theories about Radiation from cell phones and Chinese conspiracy theories. All of these things do more to promote the spread of disease.

Be knowledgeable.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:
Hosea 4:6 KJV

Other reliable sources of knowledge.

CDC Centers for Disease Control
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

NIH National Institute of Health
https://www.nih.gov/health-information/coronavirus#!/detail/403327

WHO World Health Organization
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

NMA National Medical Association
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

AMA American Medical Association
https://www.ama-assn.org/topics/coronavirus-covid-19

FDA
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/coronavirus-covid-19-drugs/coronavirus-treatment-acceleration-program-ctap

The man jumped from the bridge hit the pavement and died. Why did God let that happen?

The plane carrying 300 people fell to the ground and everyone perished who was aboard and also some of the people on the ground who were just living natural lives. Where was God when that happened?

I know most of us would be unwilling and unlikely to blame God for such tragedies. But there are some things that we do wonder about as to why if God is in control why does it happen?

This present Pandemic is one of those times of questioning the purpose of serving a God or worshiping a God or even believing in a God that would allow such catastrophes. There are more man made disasters of oil spills, plastic, lead poisoning, chemical pollution in our cities towns oceans lakes and rivers.

We live in a nation that is More Obese, more drug Drug addicted, Obsessed with entertainment and social media devices Seeing more therapists having more sexually transmitted diseases, More Diabetes hypertension and stroke with heart attacks, More disconnected from parents, More violent Prone with pornography and slavery with widening gap of income and chance to overcome.

Now you call men women and women men. You have redefined marriage. You lock people in cages who are looking for freedom from violence.You spend more time Seeking pleasure for yourselves than praise for me

The only thing there is less of is spending less time in our houses of worship practicing our traditional faiths.

Why is God letting this happen? Is it like gravity? Is this part of the natural law of things? I believe God is speaking. He is separating us by social distancing. And that social distancing allows us to recognize that we are a danger even to ourselves and especially to those whom we love most. That social distancing should allow us to have alone time with our creator God.

Our idols are failing us. Money, entertainment, drugs, food, politicians, and even toilet paper are incapable of sustaining our hope for life.

It is as natural as God and gravity. When the Lord said you shall have no other gods but me this was not just a commandment it was an observation.

In the book 1st Samuel Chapter 5 verses 2 and 4 when the philistines took the Ark Of the covenant and set it Next to their god Dagon It fell over and its hands and feet broke. The philistines got the right message. Never put any false God before the real god. I will destroy any God you place above me is what the Lord is say.

We have not learned this lesson yet. So I believe the Lord allows these diseases to come which are of our own making. Just like jumping from a bridge or human error and an airline catastrophe. God doesn’t do it he does allow it. Thou shall have no other gods before me. It’s as true now as it was tens of thousands of years ago.

The laws of nature are the laws of our creator God. Listen to your Creator.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:3 KJV

Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.
Judges 10:13 KJV

Many of us will survive this period not all of us will survive. Those of us who do it will be by God’s grace not because of our goodness.

It will come with humility.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV

Did you tell him goodbye?

That was the rhetorical question that my colleague asked me. I was speaking of a man whom I picked up as he was begging on the streets and ask me to drop him off at a homeless shelter. When he got into the car, he related to me his recent hospital discharge for pneumonia.

It was a short ride. The aroma and the other parts of the story made it seem long.

As we approached the homeless shelter a crowd of men stood outside waiting for the doors to open. It was getting cloudy and cold. Their tattered coats and layers of clothing would offer extra comfort in the crowded sleeping areas. It was clear that personal hygiene was a problem. Clustered together, they shared body heat and of course any viral and bacterial infections borne by coughing.

Did you tell him good bye?

It reminded me that more than likely I had left this man in a place where he was likely to suffer a more serious illness for which he had been recently treated.

Now more than ever, ministries like Miriam Medical Clinics are vital for serving the poor. We cannot diminish the epidemic or pandemic, but we can address the co-morbidities which allow weaken the immune systems of the poor.

Please join us.

www.miriammedical.org

Give so that we can give.

Dr. Michael Johnson Medical Director Miriam Medical Clinics
215-644-8745
1237 Spring Garden Street Philadelphia PA 19123

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Matthew 25:44‭-‬45 KJV

One thing is certain that we cannot meet, congregate, join or even stand close to even our closest family, friends or colleagues without risking giving or receiving the infection.

All official medical professionals are strongly advising to keep social distancing as the new normal.

For the sake of clarity we need to be mindful that this state of affairs will remain in place for the foreseeable future. Unless the all clear is sounded by official government scientists this is to be the case.

No matter what communication you hear from politicians, friends, Google searches, Facebook be aware that you are at risk of being infected and spreading infection.

It is with this in mind that I have picked up the phrase cyber hug. That is if you want to congregate, meet, fellowship even party, consider the risks. Is it worth losing life? Use you phone, Skype, videoconferencing, Facebook, email, text messages to contact and connect.

Unless it is an absolute essential to meet you must remain isolated. This is important whether you have symptoms or not. This is important whether you consider yourself sick or not.

Cyber Hugs are the new norm.

Until the all clear from the CDC keep away except for essential activities.

I awakened suddenly
Face stained with tears
I knelt by my bed
Confessed my fears

Asked God’s forgiveness
Asked for more grace
Lord let me survive
Then argued my case

If I survive
If I should live
I’ll buy less stuff
I’ll learn to give

I won’t complain
That life’s unfair
Most have much less
I’ll learn to share

I look at things
I have in store
Stuff never used
And I bought more

I won’t hold grudges
Learn to forgive
I’ll practice kindness
Lord, let me live

The crisis passed
I survived the plague
Forgot my promise
My memory’s vague

Ecclesiastes 5:4

When you tell God you’ll do something, do it—now. God takes no pleasure in foolish gabble. Vow it, then do it. Far better not to vow in the first place than to vow and not pay up. Don’t let your mouth make a total sinner of you. When called to account, you won’t get by with “Sorry, I didn’t mean it.” Why risk provoking God to angry retaliation?
Ecclesiastes 5:4‭-‬6 MSG

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Mark 4:39 KJV

We used to go decades or at least 5 years before we could find a fresh fear. Growing up I was used to hiding under my school desk as we practiced nuclear devastation and the consequences it would mete on our cities.

There are those of us who could not afford an underground shelter and the Subway stations were at least a 1/2 mile away from our homes. Those in the suburbs had underground shelters full of food and water. They were ready to emerge after nuclear destruction to a world that had no infrastructure or safe air.

And then of course there were the riots and the sixties that were occurring all over our nation.

Those fears kept us unven for prolonged periods of time, however, we had also long periods of respite between them.

The 911 attack paralyzed us. The financial crisis of 2008 didn’t help.

It seems that fresh fear comes at increasingly shorter intervals. We move constantly from Enola, swine flu, Middle Eastern respiratory virus, South Asia respiratory virus, and now the Corona virus.

It isn’t enough that I am fearful of being shot by showing up to church going out to shop getting on an airplane or even playing on the school playground. Fresh fears are everywhere.

Then of course we fanned the flames of discord and dissent nations against nations with prolonged wars and our environmental problems of global warming.

Simple things like HIV and AIDS or tuberculosis don’t seem to really matter. We can quickly get over the tsunami, tornado, hurricane, earthquake and mud slide because it recedes into distant memory with the never ending forest fires, landslides and mass flooding. The locusts, famines and mass rapes and kidnappings are things we can get over after a good meal.

The tainted spinach with E. Coli and heroin overdoses don’t matter.

We keep experiencing fresh fears. Christians keep saying that the world is coming to an end within their lifetime. We are supposed to be the people who expect the world to end and not be afraid.

This fresh fear reminds me that God is still in control of all creation. He has never left us alone to the winds of fate although we may be caught up in the storms of life. Indeed the storms of life can destroy our bodies. However, our souls are not within the storm. Our souls are in His hands.

For every fresh fear I must find fresh faith. I must find faith that no matter what event unfolds.

God would not leave us to this ever assorted and never ending cycle of fresh fear. He has promised never to leave us alone.

If someone tells you that the world is coming to an end just nod in agreement. Indeed the world will come to an end. But no one knows the day or the hour.

Encourage one another. Withhold the embrace until the all clear is sounded. But until then, when fear comes to the door send faith to answer.

For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 13:5 KJV

There is real reason to be concerned about the current Coronavirus outbreak. Let’s define some terms

Epidemic is the occurrence of an incident or illness at a single epicenter or site.

Pandemic is the occurrence of multiple incidents of an illness at multiple sites around the world.

Coronavirus is now a pandemic occurring around the world. It is dangerous. It does kill.

This pandemic is unexpected, untreatable, unpreventable and at present uncontrollable. It can be lethal, but by all current information, those at greatest risks are the elderly, infirmed and those who have significant risk factors that compromise the immune system.

The data from China: The death toll skews old even more strongly. Overall, China CDC found, 2.3% of confirmed cases died. But the fatality rate was 14.8% in people 80 or older, likely reflecting the presence of other diseases, a weaker immune system, or simply worse overall health. By contrast, the fatality rate was 1.3% in 50-somethings, 0.4% in 40-somethings, and 0.2% in people 10 to 39.

An attendee at the Conservative Political Action Conference — a major annual right-wing gathering held in Maryland this February and attended by President Trump — tested positive Saturday for the novel coronavirus, the host organization said as the U.S. death toll rose to 19.

When to worry and what to worry about as listed below. We have no control over this virus. But we can control our own behavior and help limit the spread. For the Coronavirus we must:

If you have any symptoms as the common cold, including cough, sniffles, fever, headache you most likely have a viral illness. Coronavirus is one such illness. It is indistinguishable from all the other viral illnesses except by special testing. Special testing is not readily available. So, you must follow these guidelines:

a. When presented with symptoms, avoid crowds, congregations and gatherings.

b. Avoid being with the elderly, or chronically infirmed. (Heart failure, lung disease, chemotherapy)

c. Talk by phone to your physician, nurse practitioner, or other health care provider to alert them of your symptoms.

d. Always use the common personal hygiene methods of thoroughly washing your hands frequently after every contact.

e. Cough into your flexed elbow, not into your palm.

These are things over which we have no control listed below.

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/weather-stories/2019/04/22/no-lightning-deaths-yet-in-2019
43 deaths lightning strikes

https://www.thetrace.org/2020/01/gun-deaths-2019-increase/ 16,000 gun deaths

https://www.nsc.org/road-safety/safety-topics/fatality-estimates 40,000 deaths

https://www.drowningaccidentsattorney.com/drowning-accidents-blog/2019/july/drowning-accident-deaths-january-1-june-30-2019/ 788 deaths

https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/the-home-front/2009/08/31/the-top-5-causes-of-accidental-home-injury-deathsand-how-to-prevent-them 18,000 at home accident deaths

We should prepare for the things over which we have some control.
https://www.health.com/condition/cold-flu-sinus/how-many-people-die-of-the-flu-every-year 2017 61,000 deaths

1. We should get influenza vaccination (over 6 months of age)

2. We should get pneumonia vaccination (over age 60 years or with chronic illnesses)

3. Eat healthy

4. Don’t smoke

5. Watch your weight and diet and exercise

6. Staying healthy lowers your risk.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6908e1.htm Coronavirus 2020 USA 20 deaths

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Fate came to my door
Said I have bad news today
Why don’t you let me in
And hear what I have to say

I stopped and stayed real quiet
I tried hard to ignore
I scrunch down behind the couch
Laying silent on the floor

But fate just kept on knocking
I know that you are here
I knew someone had to answer
So I beckoned my friend fear

But just as fear arose
To go and welcome fate
Faith said no I’ll do this
And he did not hesitate

Faith met fate at the door
And made him turn around
Saying in no uncertain terms
Fate you are out of bounds

With those words fate scattered
Looking for another home
And he took fear with him
So he would not be alone

I then sat back relaxed
In a peaceful atmosphere
When those two come a knocking
I tell them only faith lives here

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38‭-‬39 KJV

Lord send us another Pharaoh
Who supports things that we believe
Who backs the causes we like
We can’t wait for this one to leave

A Pharaoh who will easily comply
A leader in whom we can trust
And not like this present guy
He should look and think like us

God answered this selfish request
You speak with arrogant pride
Until your sin is addressed
Your evil is like the other side

I send every Pharaoh disdained
The choices are Mine not yours
And I will do it again and again
I do right I don’t even scores

Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
Exodus 1:8 KJV

And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Daniel 2:21 KJV

Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
John 19:11 KJV

She held the phone far away from her head. The man’s voice carried across the room making us all shudder.

‘You had better not say anything to those doctors. They don’t need to know nothing but what I say they should know.’

She shook and sweated as though he would be able to climb through the cell phone and strike her.

‘I haven’t told them anything. Please don’t shout at me.’

Just get the damn antibiotics and get back to work. I own you.

She clicked the off button and sat silent.

The interview was over.

It is impossible to have a real clinical encounter with a person who is being trafficked for sex. The pimp or handler is always just a phone call, door knock or frightened memory away.

She wouldn’t allow me to examine her. He might know somehow that she was touched. She was pregnant once and the other doctor told her to keep the baby. But if she had kept the baby, she would be no good on the streets.

He said he loved me. Are you judging me?

I sat and just listened. It was impossible to defend myself or protect her. Yes I did believe that she was abused and xploited. But trying to address her infection and the issues of her handler is impossible.

Just do your best to help her. Let God handle the human condition. He does this best.

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
John 8:11 KJV

https://www.redeemedforacause.org/
https://dbhids.org/human-trafficking