The article “To Fight the Coronavirus, You Need an Army” by The New Yorker, describes the situation in Texas as the number of new coronavirus cases per day in the state passed ten thousand. The author mentions that the largest problem in terms of caring for coronavirus patients in Texas is that the nurses have been moving from medical-surgical wards to intermediate care, or from intermediate care to the I.C.U.; and also that the ratio of nurses to patients in the I.C.U. has occasionally climbed to one to three, or higher.

In terms of containing the virus; while healthcare providers can help save lives through medical services, and politicians can slow the spread by issuing executive orders, the most essential and efficient way to fight infectious diseases is for individuals to be good citizens and do their part, both for their own and other people’s sake. In general, I believe that individuals in Texas handled the pandemic poorly, and more could have been done to slow the spread, such as not practicing social distancing during the fourth of July.

The United States is a nation founded on the grounds of freedom, and while it is clear that attempts to tackle the coronavirus cannot be used as a justification for oppression, understanding civil obligations as a citizen living in a democracy is crucial. Clinging onto these ideologies too closely and dismissing the best practices informed could lead to a global crisis.

In contrast, Hotel Corona is a great model for peace precisely because it is such a tiny illustration of a single form of individuals who have come together. Even though they came from different countries, and that brought them closer because they all had one thing in common. I believe we can all work together and do what is best for the future, even if we walk different walks of life and have different views.