When Lisa (not her real name) called me this past week with sinus congestion after a trip to visit family in central Pennsylvania, her voice was a bit shaky, like she was holding back tears. She began her message as many have in recent days, “I know you must be getting a million calls about the coronavirus, but…”, and went on to tell me how she was feeling. I was impressed by her consideration, and reminded that I needed to do more than give clear information and guidance.

Sustained strength is not aggression, nor muscular feats. It is not violence or coercion, nor is it righteous anger.

Sustained strength is fueled by compassion, by solidarity, by community.

Sustained strength is endurance. It is focus, aspiration and discipline.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I can clearly recall stating to my colleagues “COVID-19 does not discriminate.” Within the second week of March I was eating my words. As I write on this beautiful Saturday morning in Orlando, Florida, Blacks and Hispanics are dying at an alarming rate in NYC, Detroit, Louisiana, Milwaukee and Chicago. My colleagues and leaders have one answer for the cause of death, “they have chronic medical conditions such as Asthma, Diabetes, Hypertension, Obesity and Coronary Artery Disease(CAD)." COVID-19 did not start the healthcare disparities in America but what it has done is shed a light to our healthcare system. A healthcare system that is not adequate in how it provides care for our Black and Hispanic communities, a system that does not take account the environmental impact and the institutional neglect of our communities.

Sitting in my office right before the start of my primary care clinic, I studied my list of patients for the day. But instead of preparing for the warm greeting and handshake, the quick survey of the patient’s facial expressions, comportment, clothing, ability to get out of the waiting room chair, and gait, I found myself looking up phone numbers and determining which of my encounters I was to conduct by phone or video. The rapid change in how I interact with patients in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic feels dizzying.

Living through the past week knowing I have COVID19 has compelled me to... 

• Buy a pulse oximeter. 
• Look into a scary abyss of not knowing what the next week would bring to me and my husband. 
• Reassure my sister and children every day that I wasn’t in trouble w my breathing.  
• Take melatonin as adjuvant therapy to mitigate the deadly cytokine storm activity while I slept every night.