When the pandemic first began in the United States, many states feared they would run out of capacity in their hospitals to treat the expected surge of patients.  Many took to turning large indoor spaces into makeshift hospitals with hundreds of beds, including Javits Center in New York City.  While most states were concerned about running out of ICU beds, Texas had a different dilemma: whether or not they would have enough nurses to treat the incoming patients.  Texas has one of the largest medical systems in the country, with thousands of ICU beds.  However, when treating Covid patients, each nurse can only care for two patients in ICU.  Although Texas had enough beds to handle a surge in hospitalizations, it did not have enough nurses. Texas did not handle the pandemic well, as evident by the surge in cases well over three months since the declaration of a state of emergency in the U.S.  At the time the article was published, the state had a transmission rate of nearly 2, meaning every case was resulting in two new cases.  New cases in the state were on track to double in a given time period.  

Regardless of the situation, the ideas of “freedom” and “independence” will be a priority to people.  This is especially true in the United States, where mask mandates were routinely ignored and lockdown measures were protested against in numerous state capitals.  Although the restrictions implemented were in the interest of saving lives, Americans showed they are more concerned with their “rights” than public health.  While no nation has protested against safety measures in the way the U.S. has, other nations are struggling with the balancing act of accommodating people’s needs and maintaining public health.  Israel is one of those nations.  In the podcast, “Hotel Corona” the narrators discuss how the Israeli military struggled to convince Ultra Orthodox Jews to quarantine in hotels with non Jews.  Even in times of emergency, governments still rely on the support and cooperation of their people.