Medical doctor and astronaut at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Andrew Morgan, paid his fellow doctors a tribute during the National Doctor's Day.
Morgan, one of the three people presently "living onboard the International Space (ISS), specifically saluted the doctors who continue to combat the COVID-19 pandemic that's currently sweeping the world. He tweeted his appreciation yesterday, addressed to the brave nurses, medical technicians, doctors and all the health workers now more known as the "frontliners of the war" against the COVID-19.
Morgan said, "As a medical doctor looking back on our planet" this National Doctor's Day, he thinks of the healthcare volunteers and professionals who have risked their lives in these trying times. He also added, "We are at or best" when helping each other and that, he is in awe of the frontliners' selfless service.
And because of that, the doctor and astronaut thanks today's heroes who help fight COVID-19, "from @Space_Station." This message he sent, accompanied by a picture of himself, beside a floating stethoscope in the cupola of the station, with Earth as the background.
ALSO READ: NASA Weighing Various Measures to Contribute to the Fight Against COVID-19
They Who Risk Their Lives
Health workers have undoubtedly risked their lives to provide care for COVID-19 patients. For instance, professionals in the medical field make up nearly 14 percent of the confirmed COVID-19 patients of Spain, the New York Times reported.
More so, COVID-19 has raged through the pool of health care workers in New York City, which has also been greatly affected really hard by the widespread pandemic. In relation to this, Michael Schwirtz from the Times wrote an article yesterday saying, a major New York City doctor described it as "a petri dish" where over 200 frontliners had fallen ill.
As of this writing, there are 786,905 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 37,840 deaths globally, according to the live data that WorldMeter has compiled. Meanwhile, the two companions of Morgan onboard the ISS are cosmonaut and the current Expedition 62's Oleg Skripochka, and a fellow astronaut at NASA, Jessica Meir.
The three are soon to be joined by three others: cosmonauts Ivan Vagner and Anatoly Ivanishin, and Chris Cassidy, also an astronaut at NASA. They are set for launch on April 9, toward the orbiting lab headed for the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
The National Doctor's Day
National Doctor's Day is an annual celebration in the US which takes place every 30th of March. Other countries celebrate it though, on a different date. Relatively, the first observance of the important event was held in 1933 in Georgia. This was according to the website, dctorsday.org.
According to the said online page, on March 30 in 1958, "a Resolution Commemorating Doctor's Date" was adopted by the House of Representatives in the US.
Moreover, in 1990, a legislature was launched in the House and Senate to have the National Doctor's Day established. After the overwhelming approval of the US House of Representatives and the Senate on October 30, 1990, former President George Bush sighed the S.J. RES. #366, which was later on known as the Public Law 101-473, assigning March 30 as the official date for the National Doctor's Date.
