COVID-19 ONE YEAR LATER: REFLECTING ON THE TRAGEDIES AND TRIUMPHS THAT REVEALED THE BEST OF US February 11. For most, this date marks the birthday of George Washington. Others associate it with “National Friend Day” and for some- it just means From left to right: we’re three short days away from Valentine’s Day and Juan Flores still have no clue what to get our significant other. (EVS Associate), But for Methodist Healthcare, February 11, 2020, Dr. Bravein symbolizes the day that would re-chart our course Amalakuhan, forever, the day we received the first documented Stephen Gudowski COVID-19 positive patient in all of Texas. Who could (RN) have ever imagined what the next 364 days would hold? Perhaps not since the Ebola outbreak in 2014 had we been confronted by a mystery illness that not only caused public panic, but bewildered an entire globe of physicians, scientists, and infection prevention specialists. Now imagine making a decision to walk into a room hosting that unknown illness, a disease that would go on to kill 3.4 million people worldwide. Imagine making that choice, knowing so little about this malady that amidst the 8 | Methodist Magazine
discomfort of unanswered questions, lay an abyss of far more questions we didn’t even know should be asked. For Dr. Bravein Amalakuhan, the first physician to care for the first documented patient, had many questions. ”Treatments were unproven and I wondered how I could help these patients survive this illness and get them back to their families. I had so many thoughts such as, “Could I possibly get infected also? And if I did, will I survive? Should I go home or rent an apartment/hotel room to quarantine and protect my family? Do I have enough life insurance?” Dr. Amalakuhan ultimately harnessed what he called a “nervous excitement” to do what needed to be done. “Nervousness because it was unknown how infectious the virus was at that time and how deadly it could possibly be. The excitement came from understanding that we were receiving the first documented COVID positive in Texas and one of
