7 unsung heroes in the fight against COVID-19 : Augusta Free Press

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2020 has not been an easy year. It has been especially hard for doctors and medical professionals who were thrust to the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Since the first cases of the coronavirus came rolling in, they hardly had the time to pause, rest, and care for themselves. Not to mention they are constantly exposed to the threat of contracting the virus themselves.

However, it’s not just medical professionals giving all they’ve got to battle the pandemic. There are many other unsung heroes of this war that deserve just as much appreciation and gratitude for everything they’ve been doing.

Here are some examples of the COVID response’s unsung heroes:

1. Teachers

If online classes and distance learning are tough on students, it’s indubitably more challenging for teachers, especially those who had to teach themselves how to be tech savvy for the first time. It’s no joke trying to impart knowledge through screens and without the intimacy of the physical classroom.

Yet, every day they wake up, set up their Discords and Zoom meetings, all in the interest of preparing the next generation for their post-pandemic futures. While they never signed up for the extra challenges brought on by distance learning, they nevertheless didn’t back down from the challenge, and the world’s students might not be feeling lucky right now, but they definitely will feel thankful in the future that their teachers braved all this with them.

2. IT professionals

Speaking of Discord and Zoom meetings, I.T. professionals who have been working non stop optimizing these online platforms and making sure our access to the cloud remains up and secure also deserve kudos.

Nowadays, it’s impossible to get things done when you can’t get online and when your most-visited sites are down. So I.T. professionals deserve our gratitude, too.

3. Financial institutions

Aside from actually contracting the virus, one of the most difficult things to avoid at a time of great crisis is falling below the poverty line. Many companies had to suspend or at least pare down operations, so many people lost their jobs without the luxury of a booming job market, as it was impossible to find offices that didn’t also freeze their hiring of new employees.

Fortunately, a lot of financial institutions made it their mission to help people deal with pandemic-related financial challenges. May it be in the form of relaxed rules and rates on personal loans or giving longer grace periods and reprieves for existing debtors, these measures proved helpful when it was needed the most.

4. Medical equipment supply chains

Dealing with a deadly virus that doesn’t yet have its corresponding vaccine highlights the importance of medical health technology, especially those that are carefully made and calibrated to make accurate diagnostics and provide treatment for the disease’s symptoms.

For instance, one company called bdtronic utilized its expertise in the fields of dispensing and hot riveting to help manufacturers build reliable C-rays or CPAP nasal masks. It’s not easy to keep up with the high demand for medical technology at a time like this, so manufacturers that stepped up to the plate to keep the supply chains going are indeed heroes.

5. Philanthropic organizations

Non-profit organizations that do the Lord’s work deserve praise and gratitude all year round, but even more so at a time like this. All of us are struggling, and people who are still willing to dedicate their time and resources to help others are rare gems in a pandemic. This is true for organizations that initiated donation drives, pooled the resources, and distributed them to worthy beneficiaries. It also applies to organizations that donate whatever they can to research and development geared towards finding a vaccine or a cure for the coronavirus.

6. Compassionate company executives

Businesses really did bear the brunt of the economic impact of this pandemic, and as mentioned earlier, many companies resorted to cost-cutting measures like laying off employees or limiting their hours to reduce their paychecks. While these measures are completely understandable for the most part, companies that decided not to pass on their losses to the employees really showed how much they care for their workforce. Company executives that thought it would be better for them to suffer a few quarters’ worth of net losses rather than make their employees’ lives harder are definitely unsung heroes.

7. Mental health professionals

Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic is not just a challenge to the general physical health of everyone, but to their mental health, too. It’s not easy dealing with the anxiety of fighting an invisible enemy while being cooped up at home without the freedom of going out for leisure or vacation as much as we used to.

Mental health professionals who help others navigate these unchartered waters are frontliners in their own right. Like the other professionals on this list, they deserve a break after all this.

With several vaccines already in their last stages of development, it does seem like the pandemic may be coming to an end. As we move on with our lives, hopefully, sooner rather than later, may we learn to look back and thank the people and groups that helped make this nightmare a little bit more bearable than all of us.

Story by Bilal Sajjad

 

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