Reflections on COVID-19

Public Health Out Loud

It’s the season one finale, and our co-hosts are feeling nostalgic. Dr. Jim McDonald and Dr. Philip Chan reflect on Rhode Island’s journey through COVID-19. They share personal stories about how they adapted to remote work, supply shortages, and swirling misinformation.

The doctors also talk about the uphill battle that Rhode Island’s healthcare workers and agencies faced at the onset of the pandemic. “We were fighting with two hands tied behind our back. No one had masks and no one had testing, either,” Dr. Chan said.

As the pandemic evolved, thousands of masks were distributed in hard-hit communities and a highly effective treatment became available. Rhode Island consistently led the nation in testing rates per capita and the State’s vaccine rollout hit national milestones.

With recovery on the horizon and preventative tools more available than ever, Rhode Islanders can start to focus on how to heal from the social and economic impacts of the virus. But we need to remain vigilant, especially against variants of concern. According to Dr. McDonald, “We are still going through this social trauma. And not everybody is in the same space. People need to process what happened in the last year in order to move on.” Download this week’s episode for more.