How essential workers cope with COVID

<p>"I really shouldn’t complain. I haven’t lost my housing or job. I have plenty of food and toilet paper, and so far, no close friend or family have died from COVID. That said, this pandemic is hard. In fact, it is exhausting.</p> <p>During the spring and summer, I gave positive COVID results to a number of patients from my home’s safety, thanks to telehealth. But the reality of telling patients how to self-quarantine when six people live in two rooms with one bathroom, or giving resources about food and other basics because the household provider lost a job, or can’t work because s/he is COVID positive, is tough. Tough on the recipient of the advice and tough on me."</p> <p><a href= "https://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/prevention-chronic-care/healthier-pregnancy/organizations/speakers/zink-bio.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Therese Zink</a> is a family physician and can be reached at her self-titled site, <a href="http://www.theresezink.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer">ThereseZink.com</a>. She is the author of <a href="https://amzn.to/393d9CT" target="_blank" rel= "noopener noreferrer">COVID Chronicles: How Essential Workers Cope</a>.</p> <p>She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "<a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/11/the-long-journey-of-covid.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The long journey of COVID</a>." (<a href= "https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/11/the-long-journey-of-covid.html">https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/11/the-long-journey-of-covid.html</a>)</p>