MARGARET A. DONOHUE, PhD
I use art to help process emotions. I am on an emerging infectious illness watch group listserv. I received notifications about the emerging pandemic late in December 2019/ early in January 2020. By mid-January I was communicating with a virologist in Wuhan and reviewing the mathematical models of contagion. On February13, 2020 I wrote a blog piece about how contagious COVID-19 was and sewed face masks for my staff suggesting they no longer come in to the office. I sent the mathematical model to two psychology listservs. I posted for my neighbors on NextDoor, and to the public on Twitter and on Facebook. I monitored viral mutations and case rates. By February 13, the illness was known to be airborne, metal surface contact, and droplet spread and that it had more than 1000 variants making a vaccine unlikely to be effective long term, and the idea that it would stop with the summer season was also unlikely. Testing for the virus was minimal, only for people believed to be ill, and actively being discouraged in the US. Wearing face masks was considered a form of paranoia. I continued to provide in-person services, but I was the only full-time person at the office by May. I had N-95 masks and a variety of less effective filtering masks. We had shields and room dividers early. Everyone else at my office was working virtually or coming in very sporadically. It was clear that the federal government and the CDC were not informing the public of the seriousness of the illness, or the level of contagion. This had happened with HIV previously. I remain angry.
Pandemic Preparations
(Acrylics, 9” x 12”)
As the illness variants climbed to almost 5000, and the deaths topped 200,000, I decided to paint a picture of threads, thimbles, and a facemask. It is all in cheery colors on a black background. Because painting in cheery colors masks the bleakness. This is a baby pandemic. Fortunately, the lethality level is low and decreasing. We are woefully unprepared even when we have the information to help with preparations.