New York City under the shadow of Covid-19 (2020-2021) 新冠阴影下的纽约市（2020-2021 年）

In New York city of early 2020, only sparse pedestrians walked along both sides of the once bustling road, and occasional cars were passing slowly through the streets that were always traffic-jammed. In Manhattan, the rampaging taxis and lumbering and snail moving alike buses were out of pictures. Once a while, one could see brave cyclists jogging in the middle of the street – something unimaginable just a few months ago. In Flushing, there were a few buses in service, but few passengers. The subway platform appeared abandoned, and the subway entrance /exits were virtually empty. Sorry for a few homeless people, there were no people passing around to give them a penny.

However, life goes on. On the streets of Flushing, no matter when, you could always see people who tried to make living for their family. The small vendors set up a table as the venue for their livelihood at their convenience. The only protection for them was the masks that were in short supply at the time and their confidence in life. After vaccines were available later, the number of pedestrians on the street slowly increased.

These pictures were taken during 2020-2021 in Manhattan and Queens, especially Flushing, on my way to volunteer at COVID-19 testing sites and vaccination stations.

The last part of this post is the record of my experience as a volunteer for PPE donation, testing, and vaccination, and I post it here as a memorable moment.

2020年初的纽约市，曾经熙熙攘攘的马路两边只有稀疏的行人，而无时不堵的大街只见偶尔缓缓而过的小车。在曼哈顿，那些横冲直撞的出租车和笨拙似蜗牛爬行的公共汽车不见了踪影。 不时可以见到勇敢的骑自行车的人在马路中间逍遥-这在几个月前是不可想象的。在法拉盛，到是有几辆公共汽车，但乘客寥寥无几。地铁站台空空荡荡， 地铁口也是门可罗雀，可怜了几个流浪者，无人施舍他们。

可是，生活还是要照常。在法拉盛街头，不管什么时候，总是可以见到为生活奔波的人们，小摊贩们随便支起一张桌子就是他们营生的场地。唯一的对他们的保护是当时紧缺的口罩和对生活的信心。直到不久以后有了疫苗，大街上的行人慢慢增多。

这些图片是我在2020至2021 年间在曼哈顿和皇后区尤其是法拉盛在去COVID-19检测点和疫苗接种站做志愿者的路上拍摄的。

这篇博客的最后一部分是我作为 PPE 捐赠、测试和疫苗接种志愿者的经历的记录，以志记念。

It seemed that Covid-19 epidemic was not our big concern when we first learned its outbreak in Wuhan, China in late 2019. Even when the very first case was reported in New York, we were still thinking how to help the hospitals in Wuhan, rather than prepare ourselves for this imminent risk. Concerning the shortage of PPE in Wuhan, at that time, as a national Chinese American medical professional organization, we took leadership position to solicitate donation from the health care providers, hospitals, insurance companies, local business communities, and other nonprofit organizations. Within two months, we received over two hundred thousand dollars of donation, which were used to purchase PPE through all kinds of channels. With help from Wuhan University Alumni Association, Air China and Southern China airline, and China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, we successfully delivered those emergence medical aids to the hospitals and doctors in Wuhan, China.

Unfortunately, shortly after we delivered PPE aids to Wuhan, New York and later entire USA were attacked by Covid-19. It was panic time when almost all hospitals and clinics in NYC, particularly mort hard hit areas such as Queens, Bronx and Brooklyn, were facing severe shortage of PPE. This time, we used our fund to purchase the PPE from China through complicated channel, and provided the PPE to our local communities, nursing home, hospital, clinics and doctors. We did such a great job that many hospitals called us first for emergent PPE supply instead to call local health department and medical supply company.

As a medical doctor, I spent my spared time in testing centers and later in vaccination centers as a volunteer during the epidemic. It was an unforgettable experience. I was so proud of my sons, a college graduate and a high school student joining in with me voluntarily serving the community at this very difficult time. The most touching parts during my volunteer time are the selflessness and heroism of our physicians to serve community using very basic PPE protection, and the resilience and collaborativeness of New Yorkers to deal with Covid-19 epidemic. Our asian community also went through many ordeals including discrimination against Asian community early on and wild spreading anti-Asian crime. Of course, initially we also made unintentional mistakes, including discouraging people to wear mask, and encouraging people coming out for business and entertainment activities early on. Nevertheless, we are winning the battle against Covid-19, although there is still long way to go for the finale. I felt that it was the god’s idea letting me participant in this century battle and witness one of the most signiant changing course in the human history.

当我们在 2019 年底开始得知 Covid -19 疫情在中国武汉爆发时，这似乎并不是我们大大关心的问题。即使在纽约报告了第一例病例，我们仍在思考如何帮助武汉的医院， 而不是为这种迫在眉睫的风险做好准备。 针对武汉个人防护装备短缺的问题，当时作为全国性的华裔医生专业组织，我们起头向医疗服务提供者、医院、保险公司、当地商界和其他非营利组织征集捐款。 两个月内，我们收到了超过二十万美元的善款，用其通过各种渠道购买个人防护用品。 在武汉大学校友会、国航和华南航空公司、中国宋庆龄基金会的帮助下，我们成功地将这些紧急医疗援助物资送到了中国武汉的医院和医生手中。

不幸的是，在我们向武汉运送个人防护用品后不久，纽约和后来整个美国都遭到了 Covid-19 的袭击而沦陷。这是一个惊慌失措的时期， 纽约市几乎所有医院和诊所，尤其是皇后区、布鲁克林和布鲁克林等重灾区，都面临着个人防护装备的严重短缺。 这一次，我们用我们的资金通过复杂的渠道从中国购买了个人防护用品，并将个人防护用品提供给我们当地的社区、疗养院、医院、诊所和医生。 我们的工作做的如此之好，以至于许多医院首先打电话给我们要求提供紧急 PPE 供应，而不是打电话给当地卫生部门和医疗器材公司。

作为一名医生，疫情期间我用我的业余时间在检测中心，后来在疫苗接种中心做志愿者。 这是一段非常难忘的经历。 我同时也为我的儿子们感到骄傲，他们作为一名大学毕业生和一名高中生，在这个非常困难的时刻自愿与我一起为社区服务。在我的志愿服务期间，最让我感动的是我们的医生使用非常基本的个人防护装备, 为保护为社区付出无私的服务和表现出的英雄主义，以及纽约人应对 Covid-19 流行病的韧性和协作精神。 期间我们的亚裔社区也经历了许多磨难，其中包括早期对亚裔社区的歧视和疯狂的反亚裔犯罪。 当然，最初我们也犯了一些无意的错误，包括劝阻人们戴口罩，鼓励人们提早出来做生意和娱乐活动。 无论如何，我们正在赢得与 Covid-19 战斗，尽管距离最后的胜利还有很长的路要走。我觉得是上天的旨意让我参与了这场世纪之战，并见证了可能为人类历史的最大变迁进程之一。