Six years after COVID reshaped life here in Erie and across the country, local experts say the lessons we learned during what became a global pandemic still matter. Six years later, the images still feel familiar \u2014 crowded ERs, empty streets, and a community trying to navigate something none of us had ever seen.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarly spring, March and April, when we started to have the first cases diagnosed here in the area\u2026 once it hit, it hit hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the impact wasn\u2019t just medical. At Gannon University, public health professors say COVID changed how we think about viruses, research, and preparedness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have not done online teaching \u2014 either as the professor or as the student \u2014 everyone had to adjust quickly, just the same as all of our children from K through 12 had to adjust. It was a quick learning curve for all of us. Some of it we did OK, some we did poorly, and some we learned from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Experts say Erie is in a stronger place now \u2014 with better tools, better coordination, and a better understanding of how quickly a virus can spread.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the biggest takeaways from COVID is communication. Staying informed and acting early is what will protect Erie and the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both experts say the biggest lesson is that health isn\u2019t one\u2011size\u2011fits\u2011all.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just really need to all work to redefine health and recognize that, together, we make each other healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to focus on a variety of things. We need better communication among politicians, community members, and healthcare providers, and open conversations so people don\u2019t feel scared to talk about their fears.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another takeaway from COVID is how the experience will continue to redefine Erie\u2019s strength \u2014 and how we, as a community, will use these lessons moving forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Six years after COVID reshaped life here in Erie and across the country, local experts say the lessons…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[7619,136,138,137,50254,2303,30995],"class_list":["post-136765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-covid-19","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-pandemic","tag-public-health","tag-resilience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}