'When the coronavirus showed up on our doorstep, our country was caught unawares. It's time to make sure we are never in that situation again,' says usatodayopinion contributor KathleenKoch1
Just as during disasters, those numbers reflect a societal acceptance of inequities that increasingly threaten the health and welfare of large swaths of our population.
When Katrina destroyed my Mississippi hometown in 2005, it left the region’s telecommunications network in shreds. Residents quickly discovered the few spots where a cellphone call could go through — including the foot of the crumbled 2-mile bridge that once connected Bay St. Louis to the rest of the Gulf Coast. The town’s transportation artery morphed into its communication hub until phone service was restored.
The same dichotomy is evident during the pandemic. I have been moved by the selfless dedication of mobile food bank volunteers braving the elements day after day to hand out groceries to the hungry, and mask makers huddled for hours over sewing machines stitching face coverings for the elderly and the vulnerable.
The pandemic, too, has given us all a new appreciation — this time, for the essential workers we used to pass without a second look, from grocery and pharmacy clerks to bus and delivery drivers. We appreciated our medical workers. But as we watch the frightening risk they expose themselves to daily, we now regard them with the awe and respect once reserved for military heroes.
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