MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Doctors, nurses and caregivers have been on the front lines since the start of the pandemic.
“We're in a much, much better position than we were,” said infectious disease expert Dr. Steve Threlkeld. “When we started this, it was a little bit of a mysterious disease, a deadly disease, something that we really didn't have anything to fight with.”
Threlkeld has practiced infectious disease since the late 90s.
When the first coronavirus cases were identified in Memphis, he was part of the face in the fight against it.
He said we now have a lot more weapons to fight with to protect the community.
“For the nurses, but for all of us, there's no question that this is one of those things that hit us hard and indirectly, and the other people that they would go for months without a day off and working kind of 7 a.m. till midnight was really the average day,” said the doctor.
Threlkeld, who shares a practice with his brother, is a Memphian.
“We love Memphis, and thankfully, we were equipped with great hospitals here and a lot of good healthcare workers. It's really been rewarding. It's been tough on I think on all of our families.”
The past couple of years have also been tough on frontline workers, leading to shortages in the medical field.
“Everybody who has been doing healthcare for the last few years has paid a price for this,” Threlkeld said.
With the support of the community, he added: “People locally really stepped up and took the measures to prepare for that that made it safer for healthcare workers and patients alike. I think a lot of credit is deserved to go around.”