The Public Health Lessons Of The Pandemic

By Sheilah Kast,

Maureen Harvie, Melissa Gerr

Published March 15, 2021 at 10:18 AM EDT

Registered nurse Sandra Younan adjusts an intravenous line for a patient at the emergency room of Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday, March 11, 2021. Younan spent the last year juggling long hours as she watched many patients struggle with the coronavirus and some die. Then there were the patients who claimed the virus was fake or coughed in her face, ignoring mask rules. One man stormed out of the hospital after a positive COVID-19 test, refusing to believe it was accurate. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

A year ago, life as we knew it abruptly stalled. Hundreds of thousands of Marylanders became sick. Eight thousand have died.

Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, past city health commissioner and former deputy FDA chief, reflects on the public health response to COVID-19 -- the frustration of mixed messages from leaders and the triumph of scientific headway.

And Hopkins professor Cynda Rushton describes the burden carried by nurses during the pandemic, and warns that many are thinking of leaving the profession.

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Sheilah Kast

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.

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Maureen Harvie

Maureen Harvie is Senior Supervising Producer for On the Record. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and joined WYPR in 2014 as an intern for the newsroom. Whether coordinating live election night coverage, capturing the sounds of a roller derby scrimmage, interviewing veterans, or booking local authors, she is always on the lookout for the next story.

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Melissa Gerr

Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'

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