The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the landscape of the world, consequently affecting the traditional practices of the modern workplace. Moreover, the pandemic has thrown essential workers in the direct path of the high risks of COVID-19.
In many hospitals, physicians and nurses face constant exposure to patients who contracted the coronavirus. They often have to perform physical examinations on these patients which puts them at risk of contracting the virus.
Physician assistant Brett Josie believes they are taking the necessary safety precautions to keep both employees and patients safe. “Safety precautions I take are I wear a mask and a face shield with every patient regardless if they have any symptoms of COVID. Mainly because I do get close to patients to exam them and even near their face and mouth,” remarked Josie.
Since patient-physician interactions are usually one on one, doctors are able to control the spread more easily than teachers.
In the last few weeks, PVHS has seen numerous students switch to online schooling due to being exposed or contracting the virus. For teachers specifically, being in a class of 5-20 students every day significantly increases their risk of contracting the virus — especially when the number of students quarantining is on the rise.
As a result, teachers have a mixed feeling working under these conditions, like English teacher Robyn Samuelson “There are a range of feelings from teachers, I can only speak for myself: I feel somewhat nervous about becoming infected with COVID-19, but life must keep moving forward. Like many people around the world, I am experiencing pandemic fatigue and wish things would return to the way they were,” Samuelson asserted.
While teachers try to have all students who enter their class sanitize before sitting down, there is still a small probability that they could contract the virus. As a result, they have pushed students to keep masks on in class as well as separate student desks 6 feet apart.
Health care workers and teachers are only a few of the several essential workers who put their lives at risk to help people, as there are many more who come to work in the face of such dangers.
