Fulbright Scholar Forced Home by COVID
How the pandemic response in Spain and in my home state of Texas differ for the worse
On March 12th, I was woken up by my cellphone as my friends and family rushed to tell me about the president’s ban on European travel to the United States in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a Fulbright scholar, I was a cultural ambassador between Spain and the US. Although there are many differences between Spain and Texas, they are very similar in other ways: both have similar population sizes, similar land mass, strong agricultural roots, and both waited too long to mitigate the coronavirus outbreak.
Since returning home from Spain, I have been shocked by the dismissive attitude of my fellow Texans towards the spread of COVID-19. I donned mask and gloves and cleaning spray to protect myself while I fled 5000 miles across the world. But I returned to a place where people were still traveling for spring break, bemoaning gym closures, and risking disease to get their nails done. In the same way, Spaniards were still greeting each other with emphatic kisses on the cheek just hours before the US travel ban was announced.
The Fulbright commission in Spain urged us to return to the US the night after the travel ban was announced. For many Fulbright scholars in Spain and around the world, it was unclear what we would be returning to.
Many scholars were left reeling between #quedateencasa (Spanish hashtag for “stay at home”) and the option to return “home” to the US (and risk infection during multiple airport stops and crowded waits in airports during the process). While I chose to travel home despite the risks of transit in large airports with my asthma, some of my colleagues stayed in Spain to take advantage of the healthcare coverage we received abroad.
In response to the outbreak, Spain instituted an “estado de alarma” to restrict movement. Although Texas has only a few hundred cases currently, in Spain, the cases quickly doubled overnight and overwhelmed the medical community. In the U.S., my home state of Texas soon followed the same trend.
Delayed responses to COVID-19 handicapped our ability to provide quality care and reduce spread of disease. Complicated testing procedures and relying heavily on foreign manufacturers for medical products left our medical system ill-equipped.
Texas lacks many of the social safety nets that sustained Spaniards through this crisis. After initiating the “estado de alarma”, Spain nationalized all private hospitals to better care for all patients while over 17% of Texans are still uninsured. The number of uninsured is sure to rise with unemployment.
The primary concern for Texas should be providing better care for our citizens and slowing the burden on the healthcare workers like my mother, on whom we so rely in these times of crisis. Texas must institute a true “shelter in place” with enforceable mask mandates in order to prevent free fall in public health.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the Dallas-Fort Worth airport was highlighted nationally for long customs lines in the name of additional “safety checks”. Now, Texas remains a hub for the coronavirus with over 10,000 new cases daily. As more people begin to fly and Dallas-based American Airlines halts social distancing initiatives, the Texas government needs to act now to protect its citizens. Centralized efforts to flatten the curve has allowed Spaniards to now enjoy their beaches (with proper safety controls) while the U.S. and Texas report apathy-fueled numbers even worse than the initial peak. Local efforts to reduce spread will not be enough, especially given the uptick in holiday travel and the fact that many people are both asymptomatic and contagious.
After returning from Spain, I remained isolated for my whole 14-day quarantine to prevent the potential spread of disease to my loved ones and the general public. I continue to limit my outings and wear masks in public. I hope that other Texans will choose to do the same.
My request as a Fulbright alumna is for Texas to adopt the Spanish culture of care for its citizens instead of hiding from responsibility. Governor Abbott must not hesitate to fully protect Texans, even from their own misunderstanding of the situation.
