Similarly, when the coronavirus outbreak first impacted areas like New York City, many hospitals were prepared for an influx of patients because they’d rehearsed many times over. But individual hospital preparedness wasn’t the problem. The problem instead was that the city—and the United States as a whole—had never prepared as one integrated medical community for a mass influx of patients across multiple hospitals.
Drills work in medicine—we knew that long before the coronavirus outbreak began. What the pandemic showed us is that we need to drill for medical emergencies at the city, county, state, and even national levels. We can and should expand the scale of our ready response exponentially, which many doctors (myself included) hope will happen before the next health crisis hits. We can no longer operate in a silo of one medical center or hospital—we need to shift our paradigm from hospitals thinking we’re the whole team to one in which we realize we are part of a much larger team. If we do this, we have the potential to respond to the next pandemic swiftly and far more effectively.
Silver Lining Medical Lesson #2: We Need More Health Research on Race
Weeks into the coronavirus outbreak, we realized that COVID-19 was killing a disproportionate number of black and brown people. Yet by July 2020, the CDC was tracking race and ethnicity in only approximately 45 percent of all COVID-19 cases. That’s not acceptable and they recognized that. While the organization was taxed in many ways, it should not have been difficult for the CDC to require all states to forward data on virus deaths and hospitalizations with race and ethnicity defined for every single patient.
What the pandemic has shown us once again is that we need more data about why some diseases occur at a higher rate among black and brown people. Some of this has to do with access to quality healthcare, but that’s only part of the story. If you compare African American patients with health insurance to Caucasian people with health insurance, there is a greater incidence of disease in blacks, despite similar socioeconomic variables. Bottom line: Black and brown people represent unique populations with unique medical risks, and we need to tailor our healthcare system to meet these unique risks.
Time has run out on the need of public health agencies to address disparities in disease as they relate to race and ethnicity. We’ve known for years that we need more research in areas of race and pathology, but the pandemic has pushed the issue to the edge. Too many black and brown people lost their lives to COVID-19. If there’s any silver lining lesson in this incredible loss, it’s that their deaths don’t have to be in vain.
Silver Lining Medical Lesson #3: World Health Matters
Over the last twenty years, the United States has watched from afar as other areas of the world have battled devasting outbreaks of infectious diseases like SARS, MERS, bird flu, yellow fever, Ebola, and Zika. While America has experienced isolated cases of some of these illnesses, we’ve remained largely U.S.-centric, not only immune from major flare-ups but also resistant to react to medical crises in other countries.
What the coronavirus pandemic has shown us, however, is that pathogens truly don’t care whether you’re in a developing country or the so-called First World. The misperception that somehow the United States can isolate and continue to remain immune to infectious illness is gone. The silver lining lesson here is that the United States should take a greater interest in global health.
Part of this is self-serving, of course: After seeing how quickly and pervasively the coronavirus jumped from Wuhan, China, to devastate the States, the United States can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to the next infectious outbreak, no matter where it occurs. But I also think empathy will play a role in how we respond to future health crises—which, in turn, has the potential to improve healthcare worldwide. As one of the greatest medical powers on the planet, the United States can tip the scales in favor of helping fight disease for everyone, not just because it helps Americans, but also because it is the right thing to do for the entire world.
Similarly, the pandemic also taught us how to work better together as an international medical community. During the outbreak, teams of researchers from all over the world have shared research and collaborated to help thwart COVID-19. While medicine has always had an international nexus, these connections are now more manifold and even stronger than ever before.
Silver Lining Medical Lesson #4: We Need to Rethink the Drug Supply Chain
During the early days of the outbreak, as hospitals scrambled to deal with patients with COVID-19, a different crisis was unfolding for doctors and the medical community at large: a critical shortage of prescription medications. The problem didn’t arise because pharmacies in the United States were closed, but because manufacturing plants in China and other countries overseas had simply shut down—and most of our medications and medical equipment are manufactured abroad. In fact, China alone accounts for 90 percent of the United States’ supply of antibiotics, ibuprofen, and hydrocortisone.1
The silver lining lesson here is that we can no longer afford to be dependent on other countries to produce our prescription drugs. What if the next outbreak—or natural disaster, political upheaval, or other disruptive crisis—lasts for a longer period of time, incapacitating foreign plant production for months instead of weeks? We can’t enjoy the luxury of outsourcing our drug supply any longer. We should start manufacturing drugs domestically to avoid future shortage, which will only make our country more medically resilient.
Silver Lining Medical Lesson #5: Healthcare Workers Are Valuable, No Matter Their Age
I’ve always known that healthcare workers are heroes. Nearly everyone in my family is a doctor or a nurse, so I grew up seeing and hearing about the courage and self-sacrifice medical professionals show on a regular basis. The pandemic has now gifted the rest of the world with the respect I’ve had for my colleagues my entire life. That’s a huge benefit, because healthcare workers have the potential to impact millions of lives, and the more respect they have, the easier it is for everyone to do their job.
But there’s another silver lining lesson here when it comes to medical professionals. The pandemic has also shown us that healthcare workers of all ages are valuable assets in our new normal. During the initial outbreak, many states asked retired medical professionals to volunteer in hospitals and put their own lives on the line in order to counter an overwhelming staff shortage. In New York City alone, thousands of retired healthcare employees stepped up to answer the call.2 If they hadn’t, more lives certainly would have been lost. What this shows us is that people over sixty-five can have an imperative hands-on role in our society.
Silver Lining Medical Lesson #6: We Need to Rethink How We Treat Animals
Before the pandemic, very few people realized the role animals play in the spread of infectious disease. This included me—I was completely in the dark until I began talking with veterinarians and zoonotic experts. Now, thanks to the pandemic, more and more people are aware of what they’ve been warning us about for years: We need to rethink how we treat animals, especially those we use for food consumption, if we want to avoid the next outbreak.
Nearly every pandemic in human history has originated with animals, including the coronavirus.3 Infectious diseases that spread from animals to humans are also responsible for a billion cases of illness around the planet every year.4 The problem, however, isn’t just live animal markets like those in Wuhan, China, where epidemiologists suspect the novel coronavirus may have originated. It’s also traditional industrial farms where chickens, pigs, cows, and other commercial livestock are raised and slaughtered in oftentimes close or unhealthy conditions.5
I’m not suggesting we all become vegetarians. But the pandemic hopefully proves that it’s time to prioritize raising livestock through organic or otherwise healthier methods in order to reduce the risk of zoonoses. It’s also healthier, safer, and more humane for animals to be raised with more space and fewer antibiotics, not to mention healthier and safer for everyone who chooses to eat meat, as we
ll.
Silver Lining Medical Lesson #7: Telemedicine Is a Good Thing
The pandemic didn’t create telemedicine: Doctors have had the ability to see and treat patients virtually for years. But the outbreak accelerated the integration and use of telemedicine for millions of hospitals, medical clinics, and private practices. People who may have been hesitant to try the technology were forced to use it—many of them discovering that the virtual service can be just as effective and more convenient than in-person visits.
That telemedicine is often a good thing is a silver lining lesson for millions worldwide. Thanks to the pandemic, more patients now have—and know they have—access to quality healthcare. This is a game changer for many, especially those who live in rural or medically underserved areas, along with older people and anyone with disabilities who may have a difficult time making in-person appointments.
You probably don’t need me to point out every single silver lining that has emerged from our new normal. There are many more silver lining lessons that the pandemic has taught us, some of which may be difficult to behold at first blush, since they may look like disadvantages rather than benefits. But with every difficult lesson comes the opportunity to learn something valuable. Now it’s up to all of us to use these valuable lessons to improve ourselves, not only as individuals but as communities and countries at large.
Epilogue
I’m not sure why I woke up at 1:03 A.M. that Friday, but I did. I had been sleeping soundly since 9:30 P.M. the night before, but maybe some intuitive sense or comic intervention caused me to sit up, get up, and go to the bathroom. Either way, one minute later, at 1:04 A.M., my phone started buzzing frantically by my bedside. A moment later, it was ringing. I picked up: The president of the United States had COVID-19.
Twenty minutes later, I was live and on-air by phone with the twenty-four-hour anchor team at ABC News. With the phone on speaker, I changed into a blouse and started putting on makeup and doing my hair. Another ten minutes later, I was powered up and on camera in my home studio delivering what would be the second of nearly a dozen different live reports on the president’s diagnosis that I’d give over the next twenty-four hours.
That morning, after the president tweeted that he had tested positive for COVID-19, I was on the air from 1:30 A.M. to 3:15 A.M., breaking what would become not only the most significant health story but also the biggest story in the world. At 3:30 A.M., I went back to bed briefly for an hour before getting up again to prepare to be live on Good Morning America, WABC, World News Tonight with David Muir, Nightline, and other ABC shows. The next four days, as the virus exploded through the White House, I was live on-air for up to fourteen hours per day, just like I had been at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Monday after the president’s diagnosis, I had an hour-long phone call with my therapist—something I had made a priority after my ex-husband took his own life several years ago. But on that Monday, I didn’t want to talk about my emotions, relationships, or what I could do to improve myself. I was so caught up in what I had experienced as a medical correspondent, a doctor, and an American citizen that I spent the first ten minutes of our sixty-minute call talking about President Trump’s COVID-19 case.
That’s when it came out: I’m so sick of this virus. I’m sick of COVID-19. I felt frustrated, hopeless, and worn down by the virus. I officially had pandemic fatigue.
I bet that you’re sick of the virus, too. It’s been months that we’ve been living like this, and the virus isn’t going away. That’s left a lot of people feeling frustrated and hopeless. And that’s okay—that’s a normal and natural response.
But while we’re all sick of the virus, now is not the time to let your guard down. In fact, we have to remain more vigilant now than ever, as pandemic fatigue spreads and people start to get complacent. Case in point: President Trump.
The President’s COVID-19 diagnosis proves what happens when you let your guard down. President Trump has gone on record many times saying he wouldn’t wear a mask and has been televised not doing so in situations where it would have been recommended. He’s also been televised not socially distancing in situations where it would have been recommended. The White House has been public about regularly testing the president and senior administration officials to help keep them safe. But testing, even at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, is not a prevention strategy—it’s a surveillance and diagnostic approach. While the president may have escaped the virus for the first eight months of the outbreak, his behaviors eventually caught up with him, as the virus figured out a way into the most secure circle of power in the world. That’s proof positive that no one can have a false sense of security or protection when it comes to this disease—not now and not another eight months from now.
The president’s COVID-19 diagnosis also showed the world what doctors have known since the virus first appeared in Wuhan, China: COVID-19 can and does affect everyone. The virus doesn’t need security clearance to penetrate the walls of the White House.
I want to be clear: These points have nothing to do with politics. While many people have politicized President Trump’s diagnosis, for me, the story is medical and scientific. To quote The New England Journal of Medicine editorial on the United States’ response to the pandemic, “Truth is neither liberal nor conservative.”1
The need to politicize the president’s COVID-19 diagnosis only underscores the degree of vitriolic emotions many have right now. As the pandemic has dragged on, it’s become increasingly difficult to find calm in all the chaos. But we have to. And the way I’ve personally done so is to stick to what we know, which is the science, including the principles of infectious-disease control and the risk stratification outlined throughout this book.
Many businesses have reopened since the pandemic began and will continue to do so. More people are also traveling, eating out, and getting together with others in social situations—all good things. But this doesn’t mean things are back to “normal.” Just because more businesses are open and we’re engaging in more everyday activities doesn’t mean the virus packed up its bags and left the planet. It’s still here, it’s still a threat, and it will be a threat for years to come, even in the advent of an effective cure or vaccine.
I want to emphasize this point, because I think it’s important not to develop a sense of false hope that any vaccine or vaccines, no matter how successful, will suddenly revert our world back to the way it was in 2019. At the time of this writing, 30 to 50 percent of Americans say they won’t take a COVID-19 vaccine because they mistrust the process or have concerns over its safety and efficacy. That means many people won’t have the protection a vaccine can provide.
What’s more, doctors won’t know for some time how long any vaccine will be able to protect those immunized against COVID-19. If the coronavirus is anything like the flu and mutates frequently, people may need to be inoculated every one to two years, which will pose real logistical challenges.
I’m not trying to be a killjoy. I think it’s super important to remain cautiously optimistic that a vaccine can and will eventually put the pandemic in the world’s rearview mirror. But in medicine as in life, while it’s fine to look down the road, we have to keep our eyes focused on what’s directly in front of us if we want to navigate our current world with any kind of precision and safety.
I realize that looking only at what’s right in front of you can make it feel like there’s no end in sight. I’d be lying if I told you that I haven’t felt the same way at times, too. But that’s why I’ve remained steadfast about focusing on the things that are important to me, like my family, my friends, my work, and a sense of self-care. I’ve also worked hard to try to manage my anxiety and remain grateful for everything in the world that is going right.
What’s going right in your world? For one, you’re alive—and that’s no small feat. More Americans died during the first eight months of 2020 than during any other period of time since 1970, before aggressive antismo
king and occupational-safety legislation was passed.2 COVID-19 is now the third leading cause of death in the United States, beating out stroke, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and car crashes.
If you’ve been lucky enough to survive so far, that is certainly worth recognizing and celebrating. But it’s not an indicator that you’re immune or won’t get infected at some point in the future. I’m not trying to scare you—I just want to encourage you to remain realistic, vigilant, grateful, and hopeful.
Grateful and hopeful are what I want to leave you with, because there’s a lot to be grateful and hopeful about these days. Pandemic or not, the world is still a wonderful, beautiful, and blessed place. Children are still being born, young people are still learning new things, couples are still getting married, and many of us are finding success, practicing the hobbies that make us happy, falling in love, and/or deepening our existing love with our family and friends.
There’s no doubt about it: The virus has changed our world, transformed how we live, and upended our sense of normality. But I think it’s important to remember that it hasn’t overhauled who we are—and who we can be. In our new normal, you can still choose to be whatever you want to be. You can choose to be grateful, hopeful, and happy. You can choose to be kind, compassionate, and loving. And you can choose to be resilient. In short, you have the power to be your best self—no virus or pandemic will ever take that away.
Acknowledgments
I want to thank all who helped with this book, not necessarily in any order:
My ABC News family: It has been a privilege to work alongside the best team in network news during this historic time. The attention to detail, the concern for people’s lives and feelings, and the vigor with which we have committed to this pandemic has made it an honor for me to be a part of such a team. This includes: James Goldston, Wendy Fisher, Marc Burstein, George Stephanopoulos, David Muir, Robin Roberts, Michael Strahan, Amy Robach, T. J. Holmes, JuJu Chang, Michael Corn, Simone Swink, Alberto Orso, Christine Brouwer, Mike Solmsen, Chris Dinan, Almin Karamehmedovic, Justin Dial, Catherine McKenzie and the entire GMA3 team, my ABC News Radio family, Aaron Katersky, Eric Avram, Kerry Smith, Barbara Fedida, Debra O’Connell, Bill Ritter, Brian Teta, Terence Noonan, Steve Baker, John Green, David Sloan, Sony Salzman, Eden David, Brad Mielke, Katie DenDaas, and the operations team, along with our amazing directors, crew, makeup and hairstylists, and security team.
The New Normal Page 23