COVID-19 hit the United States in a hard and painful way. Resulting in presently over 200,000 deaths, many states had voiced their concerns on lack of equipment, PPE, and hospital capacity. In To Fight the Coronavirus, You Need an Army, Richard Nuila describes the issues that Texas faced because of coronavirus in comparison to other states. Texas, unlike other states, realized that the largest problem in terms of caring for patients wasn’t equipment, but manpower.  In the treatment of all diseases, the number of personnel needed increases as the level of care, or in this case, cases escalate. For example, in the ICU where patients receive a higher and more intense level of care, “proning” emerged as a valuable therapeutic advance in the treatment of severe covid-19. “A patient who is proned is flipped from her back to her belly while her breathing tube, I.V.s, and monitors are kept intact and attached; many hours later, the move must be reversed”. However, in order to do this effectively, flipping one patient can require up to 6 nurses. For an I.C.U. to be able prone large numbers of patients each day, it must be fully staffed, which Texas was lacking.  

Besides the medical community and lack of staff’s effect on corona, people’s individual choices also had and still have an impact on society in the time of a pandemic. Specifically, in the United States, the idea of freedom and independence clashed a lot during the early stages of the mask mandate. People refused to wear masks arguing their 1st amendment right to freedom, however in doing so put others in danger willingly. This caused division within the American community because people put their own rights and beliefs above the greater good and others. On the other hand, the podcast “Hotel Corona” proved that it could be different. The speakers examined the struggle of the Israeli leaders to convince Ultra-Orthodox Jews to quarantine in hotels with non-Jews because of the pandemic. In the beginning, due to the history of Jews and non-Jews in that that part of the world, there were clashes and disagreements between the two parties. However, after realizing that there was an issue that needed to be prioritized, they set their differences aside. “Hotel Corona” teaches that when there is a common goal or issue, especially one that doesn’t discriminate race, religion, etc, putting aside our differences and working together can help achieve so much more.