• Guideline. Guidelines are general principles that guide management. The pertinent literature is reviewed and its overall quality is judged. Then the questions are answered and the confidence in that answer is given, based on the strength of the research (strongly recommended vs recommended vs conditionally recommended, etc.). Less strict and not enforceable.
• Protocol. A protocol is a description of very specific behaviors that are followed in certain situations. The behaviors can be described either in a list format (such as that followed in some type of formal ceremony) or in a flow diagram which is best used in clinical care. More strict than guidelines and possibly enforceable.

Doctors' Guide Alert: COVID-19 AUGUST 7, 2020

COVID-19: Total cases rise by more than 53,000 in US

According to CDC's update on August 6, the case count of COVID-19 in the US stands at 4,802,491* cases, including 157,631* deaths, in 55 (50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Marianas, and US Virgin Islands) jurisdictions. This represents an additional 53,685 cases and 1,320 deaths compared to the update on the preceding day.

This is a record high, higher than Phase One in the United States. We are definitely on the upslope of Phase Two of the 1918 death curve. Enforcement of the Public Health codes and recommendations couldn't hurt??

Dear Gary,

I am totally agreeing with you. Many people show an awful irresponsibility and completely disrespect their and others' safety. Alas, it could be necessary to enforce all guidelines as laws, providing massive police controls. In my opinion, such method would be the only effective one, in order to eradicate COVID-19.

Best,

Dave

Healthcare Enforcement starts:

August 21, 2020:

Fines of up to $2,000 possible for hosts of large events violating public health orders in B.C. (Canada)

CBC/Radio-Canada: Ben Nelms/CBC A special constable directs a motorist at a COVID-19 testing facility in Vancouver. Alongside police officers, special constables will now be able to immediately fine people who violate public health orders.

Police and other law enforcement officers now have the authority to issue fines of up to $2,000 to people who host large events that violate public health orders in British Columbia during the COVID-19 pandemic, says Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.

The province says stricter enforcement is necessary because a small number of British Columbians have been disregarding public health measures and continue to participate in indoor and outdoor events that increase the risk of transmission of the disease.

"We can't let the bad decisions made by a few erode the progress that we have made together," Farnworth said during a news conference Friday morning. 

According to the announcement, organizers can be fined for hosting an event with more than 50 guests, for not keeping a contact list or for hosting more than five people in a vacation accommodation.

"Just because your party has less than 50 people, it doesn't make it legal," said the minister.

Fines can also be issued if venues don't provide appropriate hand sanitation and washroom facilities or sufficient space for physical distancing.

The $2,000 fines will apply to owners, organizers, venues and promoters. The province also says any attendees who do not follow instructions from police or enforcement staff and refuse to leave events could be issued $200 violation tickets.

Number of active cases surging in B.C.

The announcement comes as the number of active cases of COVID-19 rises in British Columbia. 

The province reported 80 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of active cases to 780, including 11 people in hospital. The number of people who have died in B.C. after contracting the illness reached 200 this week.

Deputy Provincial Health Officer Dr. Reka Gustafson has said the majority of the latest cases are still being detected in younger adults, but there have been small increases in infections among older people, too.

She said public health workers are monitoring 2,574 people who may have been exposed to COVID-19, but that number could increase if infected individuals spent time in gatherings.

The new enforcement measures are being enacted under the provincial state of emergency, using the extraordinary powers of the Emergency Program Act.

In addition to police, the province says staff from other ministries will be able to issue tickets, including liquor, cannabis and gaming inspectors, community safety unit inspectors, conservation officers and WorkSafeBC officers.

Farnworth said the focus of these enforcement officers, known as special constables, will be on private, indoor events.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has stated throughout the pandemic that while not all outdoor gatherings are safe, the risk of COVID-19 transmission is much lower outside.

Than you and stay safe!

Here is one example. New Zealand is dealing with the upstroke of Phase Two of the COVID-19/1918 Death Curve, by in fact, enforcing Public Health Quarantine Laws (Guidelines become Protocol).August 23, 2020.

It is true that the situational protocols are required to handle Covid-19 pandemic at various levels but the enforcement of these protocols depends upon variety of reasons including practicability, acceptability, beliefs and practices in the society. so very careful situational analysis is required at all levels right from global,country, state and local levels before developing and implementing such protocols.

Public Health rules vary from place to place. Some countries don't even have Public Health rules. Consider this news story from today:

Dubai, party haven amid pandemic, faces its biggest surge.

The Canadian Press logoDubai, party haven amid pandemic, faces its biggest surge.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Masks off the minute you step inside. Bars packed and pulsing like it’s 2019. Social media stars waving bottles of champagne. DJs spinning party tunes through multi-hour brunches.

"With vaccines coming out, they feel it's not the end of the world, they're not going to die," she said.

For those who do die of COVID-19, long-haul airline Emirates offers to pay $1,800 to help cover funeral costs.

(Would you go with this nice offer available??)

January 20, 2021. by Gary Joseph Ordog, MD:

Finally, after a year of COVID-19, we get some common sense Public health direction:

Dr. Fauci Issues Urgent Warning Over COVID Deaths

Dr. Fauci Issues Urgent Warning Over COVID Deaths

As of Tuesday, 400,000 people in the United States and over 2,000,000 globally have lost their lives as a result of COVID-19. While the death toll of the virus is incredibly sad, it also represents something else far more important. During an interview with the Harvard Business Review, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, issued a warning in regards to the COVID-19 death toll, urging people to use it as proof of a fundamental fact. Read on to find out what it is—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had Coronavirus. 

The Virus Is Real, Warns Dr. Fauci: "Look at Your Own Hospitals"

Dr. Fauci explains that the COVID death toll is proof that the virus is 100 percent real. However, due to "mixed messages that have come to Washington" there are people who still believe it is a hoax—despite the fact that hospitals are at capacity and people are dying. 

"I think when we go back and look at this in history, we'll be scratching our heads and saying, how did that happen?" he said. "You know, how was it that you add a region, a state or a city where the hospitals are being overrun, where you have 20 intensive care unit beds, and you have 50 people who need intensive care that in that same town, city, state, there was still people that think it's a hoax that think it's false news. How can you think that close to 400,000 deaths, which is historic in the proportion, like nothing we've ever seen in 102 years is a hoax? I mean, look at your own hospitals, look at the people who are dying and yet astoundingly, there are people that don't believe that's real. I mean, I'd never seen anything like that."

RELATED: 7 Tips You Must Follow to Avoid COVID, Say Doctors

COVID Is a Health Issue—Not a Political Issue—He Says

Fauci explains that due to the fact that the virus was somehow turned into a political issue, the fundamental ways of preventing the spread were rejected by a good portion of the population. 

"Public health officials have had a very difficult time because if everything we're dealing with was in the context of public health, I don't think you would be seeing this disparity and discrepancy among various sectors in this country about things that seem to be reasonably straightforward—wearing masks, keeping distance, avoiding congregate settings in crowds, particularly indoor," he pointed out. 

"We have gotten caught, and this is so unfortunate, in being in an extremely divisive society in our own country," he continued, using the Capitol riots as an example. "The issues of public health have been consumed in a divisive context so that there are people who feel that when we say to avoid congregate settings or wear a mask that somehow or other we're encroaching upon something that really has nothing to do with, with public health, it's like their freedom."

RELATED: If You Feel This, You May Have Already Had COVID, Says Dr. Fauci

How to Survive This Pandemic

So follow Fauci's fundamentals and help end this surge, no matter where you live—wear a face mask, social distance, avoid large crowds, don't go indoors with people you're not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, get vaccinated when it becomes available to you, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don't visit any of these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.