Monday; April 11
While none of us are sure of what to expect in the next phase of the pandemic (or have we moved to an endemic mindset), one thing is for certain – there have been a lot of casualties – however, not all of the losses are recorded in the fatality and hospitalization reports. I was in a meeting last week that was hosted by our local Health Department. As we reviewed where we had been, it was painfully obvious that people have been forever changed by the last two years. The losses suffered by those who contracted the disease have been well-documented, but the untold story is the pain suffered by those who battled the illness. Whether it was those who were on the frontlines or those who managed community responses, there are a lot of people who will never be the same. The exhaustion, physical threats, denigration, long hours and helplessness took its toll on good people who just wanted to help. By doing what they saw as the right things, they lost a bit of themselves. I know a lot h