Covid is forcing doctors to end a key ritual — and patients may suffer for it

Doctors are skipping a vital medical ritual during Covid. What if it doesn't come back?
Dr. Jalal Baig
© Provided by NBC News
We are reminded daily of the social bonds frayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. In hospitals, coronavirus patients struggle with the disease in isolation, receiving care from health care workers armored in personal protective equipment and saying final goodbyes through phones or iPads. Meanwhile, public health measures like lockdowns, masks and social distancing have hollowed out our ability to interact with others.
In medicine, these consequences extend beyond the patients afflicted with the coronavirus. As "virtual" doctor appointments, which are likely to account for an estimated 20 percent of total medical visits in 2020, have increasingly pushed traditional in-person visits aside, the physical examination has become a notable casualty. Even for those patients who are still seen in the flesh, the reflexive impulse to avoid touch can result in an abridged or hasty exam.

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