Surviving the Pandemic: We’re Wearing Masks… but the Masks Are Coming Off

Pope Francis about to start extraordinary prayer in empty St. Peter’s Square for those suffering from the virus, their families and medical workers.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

By Jesse Kornbluth

Pope Francis about to start extraordinary prayer in empty St. Peter’s Square for those suffering from the virus, their families and medical workers.

That’s Rome. Here’s what’s happening at Mt. Sinai West Hospital. 10th Avenue and 59th Street, 4.8 miles from my apartment. Please spend 2 minutes with Diana Torres, a nurse there:

“There’s nothing else to lose but our lives,” she says. In 5 to 10 days, a great many people in my city — and maybe yours — may be saying that. In a way, we already are. It’s like a bass line, very low, under every conversation. It’s in the sudden pauses. The black humor. The glances we sneak at our children. The way we wake in the night and watch a sleeping lover. The way emails are flying from…