Infectious disease doctors are on the front lines testing people showing symptoms of COVID-19.

They know they are interacting with patients with a contagious disease, but they trust their equipment, and they use their experience to guide how they use it.

Dr. Luther Rhodes is the infectious disease specialist for Lehigh Valley Health Network. Over his 40-plus-year career, he and his team of doctors have treated patients with HIV, SARS, MERS and Ebola.

Each of those viruses also produced a wave of fear when they were first reported.

“They all seem to be very spooky at the beginning. What’s different now around us is this once-in-a-lifetime reaction, this fear which has been accelerated by the absence of test results,” he said on Wednesday.

Rhodes and his team - made up of 15 doctors and five physician assistants - see patients throughout the hospital all day on a regular basis.

Rhodes said there is risk to treating patients with COVID-19, but it’s infectious disease doctors’ job to assess those risks and respond accordingly.

Infectious disease doctors are used to suiting up when they are treating patients. Since the virus hit Italy and the United States, the network of infectious disease doctors worldwide have been sharing information about how to best protect themselves while treating patients. And it’s Rhodes’ job to share the latest information with his colleagues at Lehigh Valley.

For instance, doctors in Seattle learned that they could reduce their risk of catching the virus by wearing a shield which covers the eyes in addition to a surgical mask. Rhodes said they have added that equipment when working with patients who are showing signs of the COVID-19 virus.

Rhodes said doctors in areas where the virus is widespread may be more nervous, but they’re still providing care and making their rounds.

“You put on your protective gear, you see the patient, and move on,” he said.

Taking appropriate precautions does require using a lot of resources. Rhodes said they are monitoring the use of N95 masks and adjusting procedures to use them only when they are in high-risk situations. For all other situations, they’ve found a normal surgical mask to be sufficient.

Rhodes draws confidence relying on lessons from past virus outbreaks throughout his 40-year career.

He said it’s very rare that a doctor catches something from a patient because they take proper precautions.

“We’re not fools. We have families, we wouldn’t continue doing it if we thought this was an outrageous, unsustainable risk,” Rhodes said.

When Lehigh Valley Hospital opened an Ebola unit at its Muhlenberg campus in 2014, doctors had to learn to use hazmat suits because of the very high risks of that disease. That virus has a 40 percent mortality rate. COVID-19 has a roughly 2 percent mortality rate.

At the beginning of the HIV outbreak in the 1980s, 100 percent of patients died.

Rhodes recalled there was a similar panic when HIV first appeared because of the unknown surrounding it, but as more data became available about the disease, the panic calmed down.

Rhodes said he believes the current panic is the result of a lack of good data about the virus.

Rhodes said right now, testing is being limited only to the sickest people. But he said as more people are tested, it will become apparent that the risk is overstated.

The test for COVID-19 would not be much more complicated than the test for other respiratory ailments, Rhodes said. But by not getting an early start producing tests, the United States is now working from behind in uncovering the data which infectious disease doctors need to do their job.

Rhodes said that with testing ramping up in the past week, that data is on the way, but processing is slow.

“It’s going to allow the doctors to be much more direct with their patients,” he said.