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To the Editor:
When the COVID-19 train appeared, most Americans, from the top on down to “Joe” in the street (myself included), were slow to realize that it was a runaway train, not a row of bicycles, and that we needed to step off the tracks and take refuge behind concrete barriers.
Our concrete barriers against COVID-19 are face masks, social distancing, and hand-washing, which protect us from exposure to spit droplets that might be carrying infective virus particles. Accordingly, when we are away from home and among other people, we need to wear face masks, maintain a distance of six feet (to the extent we are able to do so in our work), and wash our hands frequently.
I’m a practicing physician at Renaissance Medical Clinic in Bristol, Va.

Neal Sanders, M.D.
Johnson City