KEY POINTS

  • Atlanta physician isolates himself in garage to protect family and baby
  • Physician actively treats COVID-19 patients
  • Wife, a doctor on maternity leave, shares story on Twitter

The story of an Atlanta doctor who treated COVID-19 patients and isolated himself in the garage to protect his newborn baby caught the attention of the public and former president Barrack Obama.

The doctor, who was a physician at the Emory University Hospital emergency room is actively treating coronavirus patients and decided to isolate himself from his family, especially from his newborn daughter, in their apartment's garage, indefinitely, the New York Post reported.

The physician's wife, Dr. Rachel Patzer, who is also a doctor and the director of Emory's Health Services Research Center was on maternity leave and shared her family's story in a series of tweets on Monday.

“We have a 3 wk old newborn and 2 young kids and just can’t risk it," she tweeted. "This is one example of the sacrifice that healthcare workers are making for our communities.”

“As I attempt to homeschool my kids (alone) with a new baby who screams if she isn’t held, I am worried about the health of my spouse and my family,” she continued. “This was not how I envisioned my maternity leave, but I know things could be worse.”

She addressed the matter of people ignoring to observe "social distancing" and how they keep on going out "at bars and restaurants, socializing, making play dates" and urged the public to take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously.

“My husband and I are really very privileged and fortunate to have a place where he can move and separate himself, for us to really do our part in social distancing,” she told CNN Tuesday. “And I know that not everyone has that luxury to do that, but really trying to listen to the public health advice to do this social distancing is really important.”

Meanwhile, former President Obama, who also saw the story, wrote: “We owe a profound debt of gratitude to all our health professionals and everybody who’ll be on the front lines of this pandemic for a long while. They’re giving everything. May we all model our own behavior on their selflessness and sacrifice as we help each other through this."

A doctor visits homeless people in the Haight Ashbury area of San Francisco as part of the US response to the coronavirus outbreak
A doctor visits homeless people in the Haight Ashbury area of San Francisco as part of the US response to the coronavirus outbreak AFP / Josh Edelson
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