South Florida expert reflects on how COVID-19 changed health care 5 years later 

Five years ago Tuesday, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.

The pandemic brought immense hardships and uncertainty, but it also brought medical breakthroughs and forever changed the landscape of healthcare.

A South Florida health expert who became the face of the pandemic helped many navigate these uncharted waters.

Florida International University’s infectious disease professor Dr. Aileen Marty became a household name as she helped navigate South Florida and beyond through the global pandemic in 2020.

Fast forward, five years later, and Marty is looking back at that time and the present.

“We've understood a lot more about the virus itself, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, we've understood its relationship with other coronaviruses and other viruses in general,” said Marty.

The coronavirus led to many lessons learned, not only about the infectious disease itself, but how to diagnose and treat it. It also led to advances in treating a number of other diseases. It’s not only transformed medicine but how healthcare is done.

Marty was asked about the use of telehealth, virtual appointments, at-home test kits, and other ways the pandemic reshape healthcare.

“Oh, in so many ways. And first of all, not just healthcare, but a lot of businesses now recognize certain types of industries that they can do much of the work that used to be done in person, doesn’t have to be, and there’s a tremendous amount of healthcare that can be done, especially psychiatry,” Marty said.

Virtual doctor’s appointments now mean patients don’t have to sit in a waiting room. The global pandemic also revolutionized testing.

“Because of COVID, it is now routine and easy for you to go to the drugstore and get your own in-home tests for COVID-19 or for influenza, for that matter, and those are really important tests,” said Marty.

Marty said the pandemic reshaped healthcare and many people began to prioritize their own health, realizing the importance of diet, exercise, and sleep in disease prevention, and it’s coincided with a rise of weight loss drugs.

Marty was also asked if the pandemic was handled the right way.

“There was a need to isolate us for a little while. What didn’t get implemented and should have much sooner, instead of keeping us all locked down, is getting people the message that there are ways in which we can safely go out and about and not transmit disease, such as the use of masks,” said Dr. Marty.

The deadly disease claimed the lives of millions of people. Since then, COVID has mutated to a less severe disease, and Marty said most of us have some level of protection by this point.

“We need to continue to take boosters, just like we do for influenza, and we need to keep it now on a radar, because it’s now an endemic disease throughout the world,” said Marty.

Despite that world coming to a screeching halt in 2020, forever altering our society, relationships, industries, revealing inequities and vulnerabilities, our healthcare is more innovative and more accessible than ever before. That’s the progress Marty hopes shines the brightest.

“We were working around the clock, so the time did fly by for us. Never a dull moment, I will definitely tell you that. And we feel very, very pleased to now be in this safer space and where we can just chat about the good and the bad that came from this,” said Marty.

She said tools and lessons learned for the next pandemic.