Ricardo Nuila, an intern at a Houston hospital and author of, “To Fight the Coronavirus, You Need an Army” says the largest problem in terms of caring for Covid-19 patients in Texas is that there are not enough nurses trained to work in the I.C.U. units where coronavirus patients are treated, as opposed to not having enough equipment to treat the virus. Individuals in Texas handle the pandemic by wearing masks and practicing social distancing. However, Texans relaxed their safety precautions during their Independence Day celebrations, which led to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in Texas. The medical community as a whole is dealing with this pandemic by reassigning and hastily retraining doctors and nurses who are not specialized in I.C.U. treatment to the I.C.U. units where Covid-19 patients receive treatment. The general medical community also sends nurses to different states which are in need of more staff.

Citizens’ individual choices to wear a mask or not and to practice social distancing or not impact the rate of the spread of the coronavirus, which ultimately impacts the entire society the individual is a part of. The ideals of “freedom” and “independence” clash with the necessities of communal efforts in a national crisis because it is ultimately up to the individual to decide whether they will do their part to combat the spread of the virus, or if they will aid in the spread of the virus. The individual has the freedom to independently decide if they will follow the guidelines they are provided with to combat the spread or if they will disregard the suggested actions of precaution and accept the consequences of that disregard. Communities, especially hospitals, are putting in immense effort every single day to fight the coronavirus, but ultimately the individual is at liberty to decide if they will do their part to help their community fight the virus and protect their own health or not. By choosing to not wear a mask or practice social distancing, individuals are limiting the progress that communities can achieve by allowing the virus to spread faster than communities can fight it. 

At Hotel Corona, ultra orthodox Jewish, Jewish, and Muslims clashed due to their differences in the practice of their religions. They did not want to create conflict by overstepping a potential boundary that they may be unaware that a member of the other religion has. They were cautious in their actions and originally self-segregated. The guests at Hotel Corona eventually came together through laughter and jokes making fun of all groups of people present at the hotel. They also were brought together when moments in which they must assist each other arose, such as when the Palestinian had to help the Jew passed out on the floor. Their shared holiday also brought them together because the holiday is a time about togetherness and is meant to be spent with family. Since the guests at Hotel Corona were bonding over their differences and shared illness, they were able to come together in a familial way and honor the holiday all groups cherish. From Hotel Corona, we can learn the importance of acknowledging differences between groups and not allowing those differences to stand in the way of unity when all groups are impacted by the same pandemic.