A New Normal Is Paramount for Public Health Research and Practice: A Student Perspective on COVID-19

My new normal started on March 20, 2020, when my mother, father, and youngest brother contracted coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). I lost my youngest brother to the virus and watched my mother recover from critical complications. Despite the loss I experienced, it has been invigorating to see the field of public health rise to the forefront with the heavy reliance on information from Anthony S. Fauci, MD, a notable public health practitioner; the discussion around the negative effects of social isolation and mental wellness of youths; and the extensive work done with contact tracing and identification of hot spots. In every facet of life, we have seen the importance ofthe public health field and its relevance to every sector in society. In the same vein, it has been extremely frustrating to see a global health issue become political, dismissing the real human lives that have been deeply affected.The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed and reinforced the inequalities resulting from generations of systemic oppression in the United States. In my hometown of Detroit, Michigan, we were reminded that Black communities are often at the helm of every pandemic, war, and tragedy society has endured, a norm we have all become too comfortable with. Unfortunately, it is the Black communities that do not have access to sufficient personal protective equipment,1 Black students who struggled and continue to struggle with access to online educational resources,2 and Black parents who are more likely to work in jobs without paid leave or the privilege to work from home.3 Some may have questioned the legitimacy of the pandemic, but it was very real for me and many other Black households who were more than twice as likely as our White counterparts to know someone who died from the coronavirus.4 The pandemic magnified the perpetual racial disparities and inequalities in the United States, calling for us as public health practitioners to collectively stand our ground in dismantling those systems. If we have learned anything, we are reminded that racism is a relevant public health issue.