Doctor who survived COVID-19 bewildered by public disregard

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Medical professionals in Alabama are witnessing two starkly different realities: Inside the hospitals, they attend to patients fighting for their lives in overcrowded intensive care units. Outside the medical centers' doors, they see a society that appears to be blithely ignoring the safety precautions that experts have recommended to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Dr. Michael Saag is an infectious diseases expert who treats patients at a hospital run by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He says he is greatly disheartened by the lax attitude many have shown. And he worries about Alabama’s future at a time when the virus is posing more of a threat than ever.