Now, of course, there are no large gatherings at the hospital, and there is no shared food, and I have trainees I’ve worked closely with for more than a year who have never seen the bottom of my face. Our terrifying human faces were exposed to the communal air, and we put tacos into them and breathed out of them as if such things-the tacos, the breathing-did not pose existential threats.
We would all sit elbow to elbow, listening to a lecture on new treatment protocols for sick children, or discussing a recent challenging case. This was when morning report was a physical gathering in a room, with breakfast tacos. She laid out a gown, gloves, an N-95 mask, and a face shield on the table in front of us, then called for a volunteer to practice donning the P.P.E.
Sometime long ago-in early 2020-an infection-prevention specialist came to morning report to review personal protective equipment with the pediatricians at the hospital in San Antonio where I work.
