In the COVID-19 unit
This week, photographer Cody Schmelter and I had the opportunity to spend a day inside the COVID-19 units at Erlanger Health System. It was a life-changing experience that I’m still digesting, and I look forward to sharing our reporting with you all in the coming weeks.
Although I’ve been covering the pandemic for a year, nothing compares to seeing the effects of the coronavirus and skill it takes to care for these patients in person. One of the biggest takeaways for me was how emotionally and physically drained I felt after spending just four hours in the hospital as an observer. It made me respect those who do that work day in and out even more.
On this day in 2020, United States health officials sent strong warnings that spread of the new coronavirus in the U.S. was inevitable and that hospitals, businesses and schools should begin making preparations.
“It’s not so much of a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more of a question of exactly when this will happen,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a news briefing quoted by the New York Times.