Coronavirus shutdowns pose 'exponentially growing health consequences,' doctors warn Trump

In a letter to President Trump, more than 600 doctors called Tuesday for an end to the "national shutdown" aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, calling the widespread state orders keeping businesses closed and kids home from school a "mass casualty incident" with "exponentially growing health consequences."

The letter outlines a variety of repercussions the doctors have observed resulting from the coronavirus shutdowns, including patients missing routine checkups that could detect things like heart problems or cancer, increases in substance and alcohol abuse, and increases in financial instability that could lead to "[p]overty and financial uncertainty," which "is closely linked to poor health."

"We are alarmed at what appears to be the lack of consideration for the future health of our patients," the doctors say in their letter. "The downstream health effects ... are being massively under-estimated and under-reported. This is an order-of-magnitude error."

GOP members of the House of Representatives lead by House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., have asked President Trump to halt new guest worker visas temporarily as the nation starts to reopen and recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

"My colleagues and I urge President Trump to suspend granting new guest worker visas for at least one year so that Americans are not forced to compete with foreign labor as our nation recovers," Biggs told Fox News.

In a letter to the president, conservative House members reportedly applauded measures that the president took last month when he signed an executive order limiting immigration into the U.S. for 60 days but asked that he expand the restrictions to cover temporary workers.

"As we respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, it is important that we continue to look out for their economic welfare," Biggs said Wednesday night. "More than 36 million Americans have filed for unemployment and, even as states and counties begin to reopen, jobs are scarce."

Patients who have postponed or canceled doctor's appointments or treatments due to the coronavirus pandemic should get in touch with their doctors and resume their health care routines, according to the president and CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

Dr. Pat Basu is warning of a "shadow curve" that may result in a dramatic spike in undiagnosed and untreated non-coronavirus illnesses -- and deaths -- as a side effect of the pandemic.

Doctors find a lot of cancers during screenings – and many more incidentally as they meet with patients for non-cancer examinations. And neither of those types of appointments are happening as often as they were before the COVID-19 outbreak, Basu told Fox News on Wednesday. "That, to me, is a major concern," he said.

Sean Hannity calls for America to reopen "right away," saying that the time has come to eliminate "one size fits all" lockdown orders and slams New York's response to the coronavirus pandemic.