A doctor has recently gone viral after using a poignant sign to urge people to respect quarantines and stay indoors.
Posted on Reddit, the picture shows the masked doctor holding up a piece of paper that reads, "I stayed at work for you. You stay at home for us", echoing many health care professionals' plea for citizens to stay inside and prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
The original poster of the photo clarified that this message isn't so much about workers, since many don't have a choice about whether they stay or leave their homes. If they can't work from home or are employed in an industry that is still in effect, they're going to have to leave the house.
Rather, it's directed towards people who are taking advantage of cheap flights and traveling despite recommendations not to, or those who are congregating for social events rather than staying at home to limit the virus' spread.
Dr. Gee Teak Sheng at Pantai Hospital Penang in Malaysia posted the photo to Facebook and urged Malaysians to adhere to the Government's movement control order and #StayHome.
Not only will this limit the spread of the coronavirus, but it will also lighten the burden that has been placed on so many medical workers since the outbreak began.
In less than a day, the post has racked up over 16,000 reactions and been shared nearly 60,000 times.
In Florida, college-age spring breakers had to be forced off beaches after they chose to ignore recommendations to avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people.
“When you’re young, you’re invincible. You have the whole world at your feet, you think nothing will ever touch you, nothing will ever hurt you," Dr. Daniel Bober, a psychiatrist, explained during a news conference about the beach-goers.
"Your brain isn’t even fully matured yet so you’re not really able to weigh the future consequences of your actions so trying to tell a young person to be careful, to use care is very difficult.”
“It’s really simple," Dr. Reta French at Highlands Health Network told Orangeville News, "Just stay at home."
The physician went on to encourage people to connect with friends and family through virtual means, rather than physical, and to call their doctors when they think they have coronavirus symptoms before coming in for testing.
“The earlier we take these measures, the shorter it will last,” she said.
