The Pandemic Turned Out to be a Different Story

“We all acted as one whole organism. And this harmony in work brought positive results even though in the initial stage, we were all acting blindly.

Today I feel that the past 2 years have given me great strength and readiness to respond to critical moments in the future with more confidence and consistency”.

Anahit Badalyan
Assistant to the Deputy Director
National Center of Infectious Diseases of Armenia

We have switched to the emergency mode of work since March 2020. Before that, I had heard many stories about how health workers behaved during the Ebola epidemic. But the pandemic of a new and absolutely unknown virus that spread unbelievably quickly around the world turned out to be a completely different story.

The thing that impressed me the most was the total readiness of our medical team to help people, to be as efficient as possible, to use all their experience despite the fact that none of us knew anything about COVID-19 and its treatment – experience and best practices were still lacking.

I was amazed by the coordinated work of our healthcare staff. It was as if they understood each other without a word. Without additional explanation they understood who had to play which role in specific cases, when and where they should direct their efforts, etc.

We all acted as one whole organism; and this harmony in work gave positive results even though in the initial stage, we were all acting blindly.

It should be noted that in the first days of the pandemic, our work schedule was completely irregular – we did not know when a working day started or ended. Personally, I didn’t go home at all for a week. I spent nights at work with my colleagues. We were all so mobilized in this emergency that we didn’t even feel tired. When I could go home for a short rest, I tried to come home as late as possible so as not to put my family at risk – because no one knew if and when we would be infected at work.

During the critical stages of the pandemic, I provided the hospital with on-time statistics – I was collecting and analyzing all the comprehensive data about new and cured cases of COVID-19. I believe that I came to the right place at the most critical moment – on the front line, where I successfully coped with the first shock of the pandemic and fulfilled my mission effectively. I feel that the past 2 years have given me a valuable experience as well as great strength and readiness to respond to critical moments in the future with more confidence and consistency.

I was amazed by the coordinated work of our healthcare staff. It was as if they understood each other even without a word – without additional explanation, they understood who had to play which role in specific cases, when and where they should direct their efforts, etc.