PANDEMIC DIARY
The pandemic has brought death, togetherness and challenge to Houston
Eight months after they were asked how their lives were altered, Houstonians check in.
As the coronavirus began to exert its grip on the region in late April, Chronicle reporters asked Houstonians to tell the stories of how their lives had been affected. The virus then was scary and novel, and we were still trying to figure out what it meant for our health, our livelihoods and our families. Eight months on, as vaccines have just begun to ship, we went back to some of those people to see how their lives had been altered by the pandemic. These are their words, edited for space and clarity.
Tripp Carter, founder and president of Bradshaw-Carter Memorial & Funeral Services, Houston
As told to Katherine Feser
It’s been the busiest eight months since I’ve been in the business 20 years. That’s true for almost everyone I’ve spoken to all across Texas, whether it’s the Valley, Corpus or Dallas. At my funeral home, we’ve handled 15 COVID cases. Now that’s 15 too many, but in terms of the overall situation, it’s not that many cases.
So, that has got us all kind of wondering: What in the world has happened? What we’re figuring is that so many people did not go to their doctor. They were afraid for one reason or another indirectly related to COVID that they didn’t see their doctor or they didn’t go to the hospital for things that might otherwise have been caught and treated. A large number of people died at home with heart disease or stroke or other illnesses that maybe could have been prevented had they seen a doctor.
There’s been a huge number of suicides. It’s just unbelievable, across the board, from teens to 60. I think that that is directly related to COVID and the environment lately in the last six months with the economy and all sorts of factors that have caused people to take their own lives. I mean, it’s staggering. There have been people from retirement communities who have been locked in, so to say, and not able to see family members, so depression set in and they just sort of gave up.
The staff is petrified of catching COVID. Lately, everybody is very excited about the potential for a vaccine. Everybody is just ready for this to be over.
We’re doing some really interesting services outside. We did one where there was a quartet. Everyone sat in a circle outside in the park, and there was beautiful music. It was glorious.
When we are having services in an enclosed space, something that we’re using which is brandnew is RSVPing for service. Only 40 people can be in the funeral home at a time for visitation. If your visitation is three hours, you have a window of 40 people per every 30 minutes, with 30 minutes in between so we can sanitize the funeral home area.
Dr. Adlia Ebeid, director of pharmacy services at the San Jose Clinic, Houston
As told to Gwendolyn Wu
It’s been interesting to see how everyone has evolved and built this resiliency, this new normal. So it’s definitely been an easier adjustment now that everybody’s realizing the impact of the pandemic, and how this may be here longer than we would like it to be.
I’m fortunate not to be in an ICU setting. I do have colleagues that take showers at work before they can get into their car. They wrap their phones. They’re right there face to face with patients every day. And they do everything there from physical therapy to transport.
It gets a little bit discouraging when there’s so much misinformation and it becomes more politicized. Even among friends and family in a neighborhood,
the difference of opinion is just so vast, and I wish that more people would just focus on the facts and do their part and hopefully try to be part of the solution.
As part of our code of ethics, we are responsible for being on the front line. But nobody’s saying, “Hey, I want to do this. I want to go out there and take a bullet for everybody else who chooses not to take care of themselves or the people around them.”
I have mixed emotions. I think it’s great that people are applauding and recognizing the efforts of health care professionals, but the best thing that people can do is really be more responsible.
Dr. Kristina Braly, private practice anesthesiologist, Houston
As told to Dwight Silverman Initially after the surge, everything started to come back to normal, or rather a new version of “normal.” We started ramping up elective surgeries again, but now all elective surgery patients are routinely tested for the coronavirus prior to surgery. As medical personnel, we wear a lot more PPE (personal protective equipment) than we did before the coronavirus, and that’s throughout the day.
With the new surge, I don’t think it’s so much that anything has changed, but we are better prepared, we know the drill and we know a lot more about the virus than we did before. I would say the hospitals where I work are not stressed, but the numbers are slowly picking up.
I don’t think our procedures have evolved. They have mostly remained the same. We can’t
make decisions based on fear. That is not actionable intelligence. We have to use science to gather data and act upon; that really is our secret weapon.
I am pregnant with my second child. Having a child at any time is a blessing, and you have to look on the bright side. I don’t think it will be that different (from my first). When you have a baby, you do quarantine anyway for three months, you don’t let strangers touch your baby, you don’t take them out in the world. Nothing changes in that sense.
I don’t feel anxious about delivery. Hospitals have a safe system for partners to be present during delivery. I feel like they are going to great lengths to keep staff, patients and the baby safe, and in the end that is all that really matters.
Katie Day, sales associate at Coldwell Banker Realty, Houston
As told to Nancy Sarnoff
When we had spoken previously, we weren’t really sure what was going to happen with real estate. Basically, interest rates have been very low, so we’ve been fortunate to have very high buyer demand at a time when most people wouldn’t think they’d be moving.
We’re still doing a lot via
Zoom and virtually, especially because we have a lot of clients that are moving from out of the city and out of state. As far as doing listing consultations, people are more comfortable meeting in person now than six months ago, but we still are doing a lot virtually. We’re probably meeting 60 to 70 percent in person and around 30 percent via Zoom.
With out-of-state clients, or people that are planning to come into town for a weekend, we’re trying to narrow their list as much as possible. A lot of times, we’re going out individually and doing a Zoom or a FaceTime to at least narrow down homes based on nonnegotiables to minimize the amount of homes they’re touring when they’re in town.
Open houses are a little bit different because we try to make sure we only have one party in at a time. Obviously, everyone’s wearing a mask, we have hand sanitizer, wipes and all that. When we list a home, we’ve been doing open houses the first weekend the home is on the market so we can minimize the amount of traffic, as opposed to having 10 showings throughout the week. The seller then knows on Saturday from12-4 or whatever time it is that’s when people will be in their home and they’ll clean it after the open house.
Keith Wolf, managing director of Murray Resources, a Houston recruiting and staffing firm
As told to L.M. Sixel Thinking back to April, it feels like a lifetime ago. At the time, there was still so much conflicting information about the scope of the virus and how it spread. For several months, we were wiping down groceries before putting them away and were leaving Amazon packages at the front door until they were safe to bring inside.
Like most companies, our recruiting team went completely virtual in March, and for several months business slowed significantly. With little clarity about who would be allowed to stay open and what types of business could still be conducted and which companies could apply for Paycheck Protection Program loans and government grants, most companies were hesitant to hire.
We saw business start to pick up in August, as companies started to settle into their new methods of operating. September through November were extremely busy, and the third quarter ended up being our best quarter of the year. We’ve continued to see strong hiring through December, which bodes well going into 2021. The job market doesn’t like uncertainty, so it helps to have the election behind us and the vaccine on its way.
Our company is currently working on a hybrid model — with part of the week at home and part of the week at the office. With multiple offices, we’re able to adequately spread out and maintain social distancing.
A silver lining for us at home is that we’ve spent much more time together as a family. We take family walks almost every night before or after dinner, and we’ve been able to take a few road trips that we probably wouldn’t have taken before. I’ve also enjoyed catching up with friends.
I’ve reached out to folks I’ve lost touch with, and I’ve been inviting friends over to sit outside and catch up. I think this experience has changed the lens through which a lot of people view their lives, their families, and their work. My hope is that there will be some positive habits that endure post-pandemic.