Currents Summer 2020 Vol. 36, No. II | Page 19

Fighting CoronA with Dr. Sarah T. Sarah T. is a medical doctor whose responsibilities have changed recently. She sat down (remotely) with Holly T. to talk about it. basis to monitor the status of the disease and indications for possible complications. Sarah: Since April 2020, I have been assisting my medical colleagues at the Hamburg Ministry of Public Health (Gesundheitsamt). Holly: Could you tell us about your work during the pandemic? Sarah: Yes, speaking solely for myself as a private person. Holly: To what extent does your work now focus on COVID-19 cases? Holly: Have you been working longer hours than usual? Sarah: At the beginning of the pandemic in Hamburg, when the number of cases was still quite high, I did work longer and also had work assignments on the weekends. In a pandemic, it is very important that time sequences are noted in order to record reliable case numbers (reported by the Robert Koch Institute on a daily basis) and also for informing patients who have tested positive as soon as possible to prevent further infection. Sarah: My job involves contacting people who have a positive pharyngeal scrape-method test for SARS-CoV-2, discussing their symptoms and medically important behavioral rules with them, asking who else might be affected in their household, letting them know what they might expect in the further course of the disease, and identifying potential contact persons. Holly: Does the fact that this is a new disease make your job more difficult? Sarah: Yes, definitely. Because there is still no detailed knowledge about, and relatively little experience with SARS-CoV-2 and the medical conditions it causes in different patient groups, assessing the overall situation is difficult. It is also more challenging to offer adequate consultation concerning the progression of the disease and long-term prospects (e.g., immunity). Holly: How does the fact that COVID-19 cases can so quickly become life-threatening affect your work? Sarah: Because I have no direct contact with patients, it only affects my work insofar as that I have to collect very detailed information with regard to possible complications in the progression of the disease. Also, high-risk patients need to be registered in a tracking program to receive calls on a regular Holly: How have you and your family coped? Sarah: The first couple of days were a little tough getting everybody equipped with the necessary hard-and-software and adapting to a whole new way of life and learning. A structured daily routine also helped us very much (breakfast together, online schooling, individual workout programs that each child created individually, lunch, afternoon school program, musical-instrument practice, free time, preparing the family evening meal together). For us as a family it was a very positive experience—it made us grow even more close, and the general feelings of solidarity with our fellow human beings had a positive impact on our behavior within the family. Holly: Is your life beginning yet to normalize as COVID-19 infection rates slow? Sarah: Our daily life is beginning to change—the kids are going to school 1–2 days per week and are also now meeting their friends to a very limited extent, thanks to the current regulations. But the virus is still here, and life is still very far from returning to normal. www.awchamburg.org 19