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I've reported on the ground from many epidemics, but this is the first one I'm really living through. A 
of memories to follow...
For me, this got real when I met @HelenChuMD in Seattle on March 1 2020 -- Day Zero in the US. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00676-3
of memories to follow...For me, this got real when I met @HelenChuMD in Seattle on March 1 2020 -- Day Zero in the US. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00676-3
That month, my stories documented my disbelief. How big was the underground US outbreak? https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00760-8 Where was contact-tracing? https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00823-w And WTF! Labs had thousands of tests going unused because of a lack of a national strategy. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01068-3
In contrast to the US, many low income countries were scaling up tests, building isolation centers, & enforcing quarantines BEFORE THEY EVEN HAD A HANDFUL OF CASES.
They don't have the luxury of relying on hospitals to care for floods of patients. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00983-9
They don't have the luxury of relying on hospitals to care for floods of patients. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00983-9
Before I leave the early days of the US pandemic, two ground-breaking pieces by incredible @rkhamsi were that Covid is way worse than flu (from Feb!) https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-is-bad-comparing-it-to-the-flu-is-worse/ & that it is 'borne by air.'
She said controversial things, so responsibly. https://www.wired.com/story/they-say-coronavirus-isnt-airborne-but-its-definitely-borne-by-air/
She said controversial things, so responsibly. https://www.wired.com/story/they-say-coronavirus-isnt-airborne-but-its-definitely-borne-by-air/
April, Jim Kim @PIH: "We will probably get a vaccine against COVID, but we cannot stay in lockdown until that happens. The financial impact is going to be so devastating...The thing that will stop the financial crisis is getting the virus under control." https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01218-7
AND YET, everything stayed the same. Covid was disproportionately killing Black and Latinx communities.
@JamilSmith tied it together: "If we are to examine what and who killed George Floyd, we have to talk about racism, Americaâs pre-existing condition." https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/american-plague-racism-george-floyd-police-brutality-1008387/
@JamilSmith tied it together: "If we are to examine what and who killed George Floyd, we have to talk about racism, Americaâs pre-existing condition." https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/american-plague-racism-george-floyd-police-brutality-1008387/
But the disappointments kept coming. California, my progressive state, permitted (permits) coronavirus to run rampant in prisons. Scientists told me about their visits to #SanQuentin, that they had offered free tests, only to be turned away. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02042-9
Biosecurity researchers were as shocked as I to watch US failures. @T_Inglesby @TomBollyky @JenniferNuzzo @JeremyKonyndyk have spent their careers considering pandemics.
But perhaps this field thinks too much about science & not enough at governance. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02277-6
But perhaps this field thinks too much about science & not enough at governance. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02277-6
More! Why don't we know why COVID is surging? Because we don't collect data. I wrote about how public health data systems have eroded & how CDC reports are censored. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02478-z
Later, @ddiamond @politico broke this disturbing news about CDC. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/10/cdc-redfield-email-house-watchdog-444238
Later, @ddiamond @politico broke this disturbing news about CDC. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/10/cdc-redfield-email-house-watchdog-444238
It's been an honor to work alongside some of my favorite public health reporters, @JInterlandi @annabarryjester @DoctorYasmin @marynmck. This recent piece about the backlash against public health in the US is one of the most important I've read https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-public-health-michael-brown-kansas-coronavirus-pandemic-5aa548a2e5b46f38fb1b884554acf590
But perhaps the piece that has haunted my thoughts most is this short "as told to" from a 64-year old man in a nursing home, by @elisaslow.
If you haven't read it, please do. In Jan 2021, I pray our government can get them this vaccine. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/05/covid-vaccine-nursing-homes/?arc404=true
If you haven't read it, please do. In Jan 2021, I pray our government can get them this vaccine. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/05/covid-vaccine-nursing-homes/?arc404=true
