Feature: Being “essential” is risky
by Christopher Bastien
edited by Konstandina Martucci
It’s day ten of the necessary social distancing, and Florence is up at 4:30 to get ready for work. The government has mandated that only essential employees are to be working during this quarantine. Florence Bastien is considered an essential worker, and she said: “It’s funny how we were just regular people two weeks ago, now me and all of the other health care workers are vital to our survival against Covid-19.”
She works for NYU FINC Children’s Ambulatory Care Center, and her job title is medical secretary. Her job is to receive patient information and make appointments for them. This job may seem easy, but Florence is the first person to greet patients when they walk into the office. With no line of defense besides a mask.
Florence said, “every day is a battle of trying to stay safe. As much as you try to not worry patients, you can’t help but flinch when someone sneezes or coughs.”
Even the precautions they are taking at work are to the max. No employee can be within 10 feet of each other. To give a file to another employee, one person puts it down somewhere, and the other employee comes to pick it up after the area is cleared of people.
She said, “I used to walk into my office and greet my coworkers with a kiss on the cheek, asking about their evenings. When I would at the end of my shift, I use to give hugs to some of them, I can’t remember the last time I hugged a coworker.”
Her days don’t end until 4 p.m., but the battle to get back uninfected doesn’t, until she walks through the front door of her house. With an hour train ride and stops at every station, her risk of being infected is increased. She sits two rows and two seats away from anyone near to her.
Florence also wears a pair of gloves and a face mask shield. “I think in times like this, the world is reminded that it’s not our billionaires or the top 1% that is out fighting for humanity. It’s the people we take for granted. The people we forget to say thank you to are the people who are leaving their families unprotected to make sure yours are,” said Florence.
