The coronavirus pandemic in the voices of those who lived it
Glimpses into the lives that were changed by the covid-19 outbreak
There’s hope around the corner, but the pain is enduring. We won’t forget what we’ve gone through.
The trauma that many have endured.
Hospitals across the country are overwhelmed with patients. Health-care workers are exhausted, worried but steadfast.
Hundreds of thousands are dead. Families are mourning in isolation.
Essential workers are falling ill. And struggling to pay the bills.
Even as the arrival of vaccines bring hope, the health system is on the brink.
It’s been a year of pain. But also of resilience.
These are the stories of those who have felt the deepest impacts of this pandemic.
A novel coronavirus emerges in China, and what begins as a localized outbreak quickly starts to appear around the world. By the end of January, the first case is confirmed in the United States, and by the end of February, the first death is confirmed.
As New York and Seattle emerge as the first U.S. epicenters of the virus, pushing hospitals to the brink, states begin to shut down. By the end of March, 90 percent of Americans are under some form of stay-at-home orders, upending lives across the country and forcing difficult decisions for small-business owners and low-income workers.
“I think people have a false sense of security. They think we don’t have any of these cases here, but it’s also the lack of kits.”
Ayne Amjad is a family medicine physician in Beckley, W.Va., the last state in the nation to have a positive case of covid-19. When she couldn’t find a coronavirus testing site for her patients, she found a way to open one in her own parking lot.
In April U.S. deaths reach a grim milestone — 50,000 — and the reality of the threat to health and livelihood begins to sink in.
“This is — I want to say something positive … And the only thing I can say is that we’re very lucky to have dedicated people that care about others, because this is a disaster.”
Howard Greller, an emergency medicine physician at the SBH Health System in the Bronx. Greller kept a video diary to document the devastation and moments of relief he was experiencing.
“It wouldn’t be so hard if it was just his death. It wouldn’t be so hard if it was just the virus. But it’s both.”
Yousef Shulman, whose uncle died from the coronavirus. Shulman’s pain was compounded by the decision he had to make to take his uncle off the ventilator in his final moments.
At the end of April and beginning of May, some states begin loosening their shutdown restrictions, as debates begin to rage over prioritizing health or the economy.
“How are our EMTs, our paramedics, our nurses, our doctors, our hospital staff, you know, the morgue technicians, the funeral directors who have dealt with so much death … how are we gonna be after all this?”
Yonkers paramedic AJ Briones, who said that at the height of the coronavirus crisis in New York, his team saw more cardiac arrests in 24 hours than it used to see in an entire month.
“When you’re alone like we are in a nursing home, you’re in charge of yourself, you can allow yourself to be despondent or worried and there isn’t a thing you can do about it.”
Rita Seiler, nursing home resident in St. Louis.
Some families are able to take advantage of the closeness of quarantine to spend more time together. But the infectious nature of covid-19 also means that being near loved ones in the hospital is not possible.
Widespread protests are held across the country after the killing of George Floyd on May 25, further emphasizing the unequal impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Black, Hispanic and Native American communities.
Throughout the pandemic, essential workers have had to risk exposure to the virus. Those who were laid off were eligible for enhanced unemployment insurance in the form of weekly $600 payments provided by the Cares Act that expired at the end of July.
“I pray that none of us get sick. We’re out there, we’re out there in it. … My job don’t stop. I gotta go to work rain, sleet or snow.”
As a sanitation worker in the District, Octavia French is considered an essential worker and does not have the option to stay home.
“I’ve always believed that corona was real and that it was serious. It’s terrified me a little more when we started getting it. … We don’t have the luxury of being off.”
Briana Johnson, D.C. firefighter working at a coronavirus testing site.
Students, teachers and families face tough decisions about the upcoming school year as cases continue to rise. Remote learning is particularly detrimental to lower-income students.
“I’ve decided to stay at home and do my classes online for fall. … I feel like the administration hardly acknowledges the fact that there are a lot of Black and Brown people in Syracuse, and by just opening the school, they are putting these communities at risk.”
Soumya Tadepalli, Oregon resident and Syracuse University sophomore on her decision not to attend school in person.
In September, the world crosses another milestone as it reaches 1 million deaths, with more than 200,000 of them in the United States. By October, as some flout public health guidelines amid growing politicization of the virus, the epicenter of outbreaks has now firmly shifted to rural areas that had initially avoided the worst impacts.
“I was working with probably four or five different singers, songwriters and everything from making records to touring either domestically or internationally. And then that all went away.”
Sergio Webb, professional guitarist and Nashville resident, who is among many musicians to lose his income after the pandemic led music venues across the city to shut down.
As the end of the year approaches, hope is on the horizon with the approval of two coronavirus vaccines, but cases and deaths continue to reach record highs and the economic pain continues as America looks ahead, wondering what changes 2021 will bring.
“There’s only so much a person can do before they’re like, ‘I really need to go sneak off in a corner and drink or shoot myself.’ I don’t know. I’m that, you know, frustrated and confused,
Rosalyn Silvester, whose family lost their entire income when the pandemic took hold in the United States. Nine months later, they are still desperate for government aid.
“I’ve seen approximately 10 people that I know, or that are family, friends or neighbors. Three, three unfortunately, have passed. There’s a lot of weight on the shoulders that we all carry.”
Jorge Silva Jr., who is registered nurse at St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, Calif., a hospital so overwhelmed by coronavirus cases that patients are treated in the hallways.
About this story
Audio editing by Jessica Stahl. Video editing by Reem Akkad. Photo editing by Nick Kirkpatrick. Design and development by Irfan Uraizee and Matthew Callahan.
Originally published April 15, 2020.
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