It was afternoon in early April and I was only two-thirds of the way through my 12-hour shift. Between checking on how one patient was breathing and whether another was ready for discharge, I paused at the edge of an open walkway conjoining three diamond-shaped towers. Taking a deep breath behind my face shield and two layers of masks, I …
Tag Archives: United States
Enlisted Laborers of Public Health: overlaps in the work of soldiers in historical perspective
In April, a friend relayed her experience of getting a test for COVID-19 at a drive-through site at a university in Rhode Island, describing “dozens of camouflaged National Guard soldiers directing grim-faced drivers.” After more than 12 days of persistent fever and two conversations with her doctor, she reported as instructed, alone in her car, and held her ID up …
On Vulnerability, Resilience, and Age: Older Americans Reflect on the Pandemic
Every morning, Americans wake up to fresh news of the heavy toll the coronavirus pandemic is exerting upon vulnerable older people—from the likelihood of developing a more severe form of Covid-19, to the risks of isolation and mental health problems as they give up social contacts in order to stay safe. We read essays like the New York Times opinion …
“Out of options”: The implications of COVID-19 for hospitalized patients with cognitive impairment
“How about a walk today?” I asked Mr. T each morning I arrived to the hospital, visiting him on my morning rounds. Mr T. grinned back at me from the edge of his bed beneath his bright red veteran’s baseball cap, a sharp contrast to the dull monotone hospital gown. “Oh you betcha, doc,” he smiled. Our daily stroll entailed …
Open Letter to Senator Jack Reed
Argenis Hurtado Moreno
Providence, RI 02912
June 22, 2020
Jack Reed
Senator of Rhode Island
728 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Reed,
Thursday was an important and necessary victory for DACA recipients. The Supreme Court ruled against Trump, expressing:
…“We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies. The wisdom of those
Lockdowns save, lockdowns kill: Valuing life after coronashock
The scale and severity of the coronavirus pandemic is a shock to health systems. It is a shock to economies and governments. It is also a shock to the life sciences, which were meant to anticipate a pandemic of this magnitude, but failed to do so. The “life sciences” in question are virology, epidemiology, biomedicine and pharmacology. But the social, …