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2021-03-20
Michele Gable Oral History, 2021/03/21
Michele Gable is a wife and mother living in a small suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. In her oral history, Michele reflects upon life before COVID-19 and shares how the pandemic has affected both her home and work life. She highlights her experience contracting a severe case of COVID-19 and how she navigated being around her family throughout her sickness. As an insurance underwriter, Michele describes the advantages of working from home while being ill and how her company handled her sick leave after the virus evolved into COVID-19 pneumonia. She shares the ongoing medical issues she still suffers from months after initially recovering as well as her thoughts on the COVID-19 vaccine as well as wearing masks. -
2020-10-30
“The Simple Rule That Could Keep COVID-19 Deaths Down” - The Atlantic Monthly
Aside from “flattening the curve” of infections, the longer one avoids contracting COVID-19 also ensures that one will have a higher survival rate. This observation was made by Sarah Zhang, a journalist writing for the Atlantic Monthly who has published several articles concerning the pandemic. In this particular article, Zhang briefly summarizes the reasons why it is better for one to get infected later than sooner, supporting each point with peer-reviewed research and statistical data. According to Zhang, one of the most important reasons why it is better to get infected later than earlier is that medical treatments of COVID-19 have been gradually improving since the pandemic began. For instance, ventilators were initially prescribed for most COVID-19 patients, but they were eventually reserved for extreme cases. Other, less invasive oxygen therapies have been prescribed for milder cases. Similarly, new drugs such as Dexamethasone have been prescribed to more patients as medical knowledge about COVID-19 gradually increased. These innovations are reflected in the slightly reduced death toll. However, Zhang reminds readers that despite these improvements in medical treatments, COVID-19 still has several confounding aspects. Furthermore, several experimental treatments and vaccines are still in testing phases, and will not be viable until well into 2021.