What health experts have learned from the COVID pandemic 5 years later
PLAINVIEW, Long Island (WABC) -- Five years ago, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, and since then, so much has changed.
There have been many lessons learned, and changes made by doctors and hospitals, but there is also concern over the current presidential administration's upheaval of federal health agencies, and how that could impact our response to pandemics in the future.
From the long lines for testing, to turning New York's iconic Central Park into a makeshift field hospital, the horrors of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic might not have rang more true for those working inside the hospital emergency rooms.
"It was chaotic. It was very stressful, but we bound together as a team and we made sure we took care of our patients to the best of our ability," said Dr. Evangelos Loukas of Plainview Hospital at Northwell Health.
Dr. Loukas oversaw the medical staff at Northwell's Plainview Hospital on Long Island.
He says it was very difficult to make the rounds.
"It was lots of sick patients. There were lots of sick patients that we saw one day and unfortunately we didn't see the following day," he said.
More than 300 people died on Long Island in the first two weeks of the pandemic. That number grew to 9,000 in the first two years.
The five-year anniversary of the start of the pandemic comes at a time when there's a widespread upheaval at federal health agencies.
President Donald Trump was in office back then and has regained his status now.
His administration has been thinning the workforce for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) that would aid in the response to outbreaks.
"Hearing that a lot of the people involved in putting these things together that are losing their job is heartbreaking," said Dr. Adrian Popp, chair of Infection Control at Huntington Hospital Northwell Health. "That identification of the problem might be delayed and that's a huge deal."
For the medical staff, there are many lessons learned.
"I think we leveraged a lot of technology, we brought technology to the bedside, telehealth services, remote patient monitoring, I would say those are the two biggest things I can think of that impacted us positively in the hospital," Dr. Loukas said.
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