If you're a celebrity who's mysteriously found a coronavirus test despite the shortage, I need you to read this

Empathy for others while you get a test 'just in case' is not enough right now. Change your behavior, immediately, for the good of the human race

Heidi Klum posted about her difficulties finding a Covid-19 testing kit, before later saying she'd secured one (Getty/Christian Louboutin)

For the better part of the past two weeks, I’ve been self-quarantined in my apartment. That’s because I’m lucky enough to work for an employer who recognized it’s dangerous and cruel to force employees into a living, breathing petri dish for eight hours a day in order to put food on the table. Many — if not most — Americans are not so fortunate, compelled by circumstances to do what they often must do with health problems in our system: tough it out and hope for the best, even if doing so puts others at risk.

The latest iteration of this hellish dynamic is the jarring scarcity of COVID-19 tests in the United States. And yet, despite a widely reported shortage of test kits, a troubling trend has emerged in which asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic pro athletes and other celebrities have a curious access to testing even while hospitals throughout the country are turning away patients with severe symptoms who are in need of immediate testing. Even in a presidential election cycle in which the inequities of our healthcare system have been loudly debated and criticized, it would seem those with considerable privilege are still failing to read the room and enabling a strain on resources that further puts all of us in danger.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that eight entire NBA teams had been tested, regardless of demonstrated symptoms, although clear guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advises testing be done on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of a physician and not necessarily if symptoms are present.

They aren’t the only ones. Arielle Charnas, an Instagram influencer, was told by doctors that her fever and sore throat were not enough to merit testing and advised to stay home. After expressing her frustration on Instagram to over a million followers, she was able to secure a test through a physician friend and tagged him and his practice in a follow-up post of thanks. Same for Heidi Klum, who also posted on Instagram about her trouble getting access to a test kit, only to post a day later that she had secured one. Although it isn’t clear if Klum came by her test in a way that wouldn’t need friends in high places, it is quite clear that having a certain level of celebrity or wealth gives even those who don’t need a coronavirus test an unearned and unfair advantage in obtaining one.

I can’t blame anyone, regardless of privilege, for wanting to feel safe in a crisis that feels increasingly chaotic and uncertain and terrifying by the hour. But I would at least expect those in a position of considerable privilege to recognize that their sense of safety cannot be prioritized over the very real and immediate danger faced by those who are gravely ill and without privilege.

This concept seemed to come naturally to Bob Myers, president of basketball operations for the Golden State Warriors, who told reporters that no players or staff would be tested unless they demonstrated considerable symptoms in accordance with guidance from the CDC. His reasoning was simple: “We’ve been told that the testing is in short supply… We’re not better than anybody, not worse. Just a basketball team.”

The prevailing wisdom from medical experts is that asymptomatic individuals and those with mild symptoms are simply advised to stay home like everyone else. Better to ease the burden on our overstressed healthcare system and prevent further spread of the virus, especially with the knowledge that we have yet to reach the peak of this crisis. There is a chronic shortage of not only COVID-19 tests but hospital beds, ventilators, masks — even medical gloves. We have yet to ascertain the full breadth of tragedy our country can expect in the coming weeks. So, it would make sense to act with empathy toward each other and consider the most vulnerable among us by reducing the strain on our resources.

None of this is lost on the privileged with access. In posting about her test (sadly, positive), Charnas wrote: “I realize that there are many individuals, both in New York City, and nationwide, who do not have the ability to receive immediate medical care at the first sign of sickness, and access to care is #1 priority in a time like this.”

But it’s not enough to have empathetic thoughts right now. Empathy in a crisis like this — when medical experts have given clear direction on what’s needed — requires deliberate action. When critical healthcare is being rationed not on the basis of need but on wealth and power and connections, we are failing each other, and ironically, celebrities taking up space with medical resources they don’t need puts them in greater danger than making space to alleviate the struggle of those who are sick and can further spread the virus unless treated.

This has quickly become the greatest threat to global stability in our time. Getting through it is going to take a lot more humility and generosity toward each other. It’s going to take a global embrace of equity and ensuring no one gets left behind. Let’s hope we’re up to the challenge.