April Heroes’ Day

CORONAVIRUS CHRONICLES

“I don’t take responsibility at all.” - March 13, 2020

You likely recall that April 1st is April Fools’ Day. It has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, indicating that it says something special about the foibles of human nature. It is one of my favorite days of the year, but I can’t play any jokes this year in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

So, having recently heard of it, I thought let’s celebrate the once every Census Day that also occurs on April 1st, the first year of each decade. But as important as that is for getting the appropriate resources to everyone in this country, I cannot do that either. It makes me too sad, given the daily census of death from the pandemic.

On Sunday morning, March 29, I learned of a tweet from a prominent psychiatrist and ethicist that psychiatric residents were starting to work on medical wards, even ICUs, of an overwhelmed New York hospital. Soon after that, a friend wrote of her psychiatrist friend in New York, currently making house calls to patients with a mask over his face, also going beyond the usual duty to risk his life in taking responsibility for patients in need.

They are models of the essence of heroism that is being seen in other professionals and the public. Serendipitously or not, March 30 was National Doctors’ Day in various countries.

For all this and more, I hereby dub this April 1st April Heroes’ Day.