Every state handled the Coronavirus differently, depending on the amount of cases they had. Hospitals started training their nurses to handle COVID-19 patients and implemented new methods of healing. With this, Texas had a problem surrounding their care for Covid-19 patients: they lacked staffing. There were enough I.C.U beds, ventilators and negative-pressure equipment, but there were not enough nurses to care for the number of patients.

Typically, nurses could handle up to five patients on a nasal cannula, a device that brings oxygen into the patient’s lungs. With more advanced cases of COVID-19, some patients needed more care, attention, and monitoring than the nurses could manage with the amount of patients present. There were not enough nurses to support those ratios, leading to the nurses being overworked and having longer shifts.

The medical community came together to support hospitals. One example is they created more I.C.U beds for hospitals that needed them. Nurses from different states were going to Houston to help in their hospitals. There are new treatment options, like using “high flow” nasal cannulas that have helped patients. There are also better training methods being implemented.

It appeared that individuals in Texas were starting to understand the significance of the pandemic and the importance of following safety measures provided, up until the Fourth of July. Before this celebratory holiday full of gatherings and fireworks, individuals were being more diligent about wearing masks and practicing social distancing. During the Fourth of July, people began to ease up on the rules, directly impacting the spread of the virus. People were more concerned with getting together with friends or going to big parties than about a virus that impacted so many people in their own towns. They wanted to feel a sense of “normalcy” again and have more freedom, something that has been taken away from them for four months. Their irresponsibility and lack of care for others resulted in the spike of cases following the weekend, worsening the spread.

In Jerusalem, Jews and Arabs are typically segregated and separate from each other. They live in different cities and go to separate schools, only seeing each other when shopping. At Hotel Corona, these two groups are seen together interacting in a Zumba class. Everyone at Hotel Corona was mandated to stay for two weeks, so they may as well make the best of it. Aysha Abu Shhab set an example for everyone by talking to a couple that followed a different religion. It turns out, she had a great time laughing, sharing stories, and singing with them. Soon after, she noticed people of different religions talking to each other in the common area.

With Aysha’s leadership, we can learn that just because people have different religious beliefs or backgrounds, doesn’t mean that they can’t come together and have a good time. The people at Hotel Corona were respectful of each other, showing us that if you give people a chance to get to know them, it is possible to have a good time or even make a new friend. You may find common interests or experiences that you would’ve never discovered if you judged someone based off of their religious beliefs or appearance.