Notes from COVID

In this final episode, I thank my guests and listeners and do a recap of the three vaccines that hope to restore a sense of normalcy into our lives.

In this episode, we talk with Alicia Lopez Gil, anaesthesiologist in Mexico, to tell us how is coronavirus lived in the frontlines in Mexico. From the government's response and reporting to what has been her biggest shock, we discuss all aspects of how this disease has affected the Latin American nation

One of the hardest-hit industries of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the travel and hospitality industry. In this episode, we discuss how it's been affected, the shifts we are starting to see and how travel will look like moving forward with Patricia Serrano and Monica Suma. With 10+ years in the industry, they both started out as travel bloggers but are now currently writing for travel publications like Lonely Planet, National Geographic and BBC Travel (Monica) or running a travel consultancy business (Patricia). 

Although at this point of the pandemic many people have travelled, very few did so when COVID-19 was still an utter mystery and lockdowns were in full throttle. Today, Ryan shares his experience literally crossing the world from London to Sydney back in April and how was it like to quarantine in a small hotel room for 14 days. He also compares how the UK was dealing with the pandemic compared to Australia

Although there have been many deaths around the globe, the largest number of casualties of COVID-19 has actually been the livelihoods of people. Millions of people have lost their jobs, their businesses, etc due to the global pandemic. Dominic, today's guest, was one of the many people that found themselves in that position. He shares with us the shock and how he coped with his new reality, as well as the silver linings of his particular experience.

When you hear the phrase "not all heroes wear cape", who do you think of? Well, I now know my mind will forever go to Candice, today's episode. Candice had her baby, Skye Arabella, during peak pandemic time in Australia..... ALONE. Tune in to listen to her incredible story and feel empowered by her strength

Having a baby is a moment of joy, but having your first baby is special beyond measure. But how has something so significant been affected by the pandemic? In today's episode, we talk with Maya Guttefreund about how her expectations have had to change due to COVID-19. We discuss the feelings, the fears and, of course, the expectancy of such a pivotal moment in her and her husband's lives.

In this episode, we continue to explore the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA, this time from the experience of two front line medical professionals. We talk with Monica Salinas, Clinical Nutritionist at Montefiore Medical Centre in New York, and with Elena Jimenez, an in-patient Internist at UT Health San Antonio, to hear what was it like to face COVID-19 directly. Two different doctors, with two different specializations in two completely different states, both geographically and politically.

Imagine not only testing positive for COVID-19 once but.... twice? This is exactly what happened with today's guest Celeste Dimas. She shares with us what it was like to get COVID-19 and the feeling she had when a second test months later came back as positive. We discuss how she got infected and also how has the pandemic been handled in the US, where she lives.

Another evident victim of the COVID-19 global pandemic has been the economy; the disease has caused the largest global recession in history and this is only the beginning. In today's episode, we talk with Francisco Cordoba Otalora, founder of Naas Digital Bank, Colombian Business Administrator and Innovator under 35 by the MIT Technology Review, and Master in Policy & Management from UCL in London to discuss the economic impact of the pandemic and what can be expected in the short and longer-term.

As we have seen in previous episodes, there have been more than human casualties during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to survive, businesses have had to shift gears and, at times, completely switch their operation. In today's episode, we talk with Bertil Tøttenborg, Restaurant Manager and Beverage Director at Gustu in Bolivia - the most famous restaurant in the country and the only to ever be in the Latin America 50 Best list. Bertil tells us what the restaurant is currently doing now that they cannot have guests visit the restaurant, and how COVID-19 affected Bolivia overall.

Being in a leadership position comes with its pros and cons. However, steering the wheel blindfolded is terrifying. This is the situation many people in leadership positions had to go through during the COVID-19 pandemic. In today's episode, we talk to Jonatan Morgenroth, Senior Director of Sales at TouchBistro to see what he and the leadership team had to do in order to stay afloat during the hardest lockdown months, and what it was like to make decisions that would affect his employees.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and what gives the character and charm of our neighbourhoods. However, COVID also took with it the dreams of many small business owners with its arrival. In today's episode, we talk with Fred from Green House (@ghouse.uk), his restaurant that had only been in operation for a year when the pandemic hit the UK. He discusses how COVID affected his 2020 plans and how they managed to survive the impact it brought initially, as well as what they are doing to adjust to the new norm

COVID not only disturbed everyone's personal life, but different industries were impacted in different degrees. One of the hardest hit was the entertainment industry, especially nightlife. We talk with Diego Hidalgo Saa, founder of Suah!, an event production company focused on crafting unique social experiences by curating the best Hispanic music, culture and gastronomy in Toronto, Canada. With more than 8 years in the industry, Diego shares not only how he was personally impacted, but also how the industry's comeback may look like

In our previous episode, we saw what it was like to homeschool while working from home, but today we check what's on the other side of the screen. Our guest, Amy, walks us through the challenges of teaching from home and how she cares for her students while she also cares for her four-year-old. Amy is a teacher at a charter school in San Diego, USA - California being one of the current hotspots of COVID-19. Tune in and listen to what it was like to transition in the middle of the school year.

Another of the challenges COVID-19 brought along was homeschooling children while also working from home. To explore how parents tackled this particular situation, we talk to Janine: mother of two (3.5 and 6.5), who also works full time. Tune in to see what were the challenges and the positive aspects of being locked down with children while working from home.

In this episode, we hear from Anna and Oli. Anna is from Sweden and Oli is from Australia and they were meant to get married in Spain in September. Due to the pandemic, they had to postpone the celebration of their love for the foreseeable future. This is the story of how they dealt with providers, their emotions and everything in between

During this episode, we talk with Andrea about actively dating during COVID and finding love while the world was experiencing one of its biggest challenges. We discuss dating apps, virtual dates and how the pandemic may have changed the game forever.

Today's episode talks about sharing your lockdown experience with none other than your parents. As adults, it gets harder to go back to a place where you are back to being someone's child and there are rules and routines that are not your own. We speak to Andrea, an odontologist who was in between moving countries; and Anubhav, who had just finished his MBA and was about to start a new job; both ended up, unexpectedly, extending what was meant to be a quick visit to their parent's.

In today's episode we talk to Lauren, who went from being in a fairly recent long-distance relationship, to 24/7 from the beginning of lockdown.. on a boat of all places. Tune in to learn about the challenges of navigating not only the waters of the Atlantic, but also of a relationship where the dynamics have completely shifted

Lockdown caught people in a wide variety of scenarios; today, we talk with Dana and Paulita to see what it is like to be going through lockdown alone and not seeing people for months on end

Today we speak with Teresa Rodriguez Del Real, a Traumatologist from the Severo Ochoa Hospital in Madrid, Spain. She tells us what it was like to see COVID first-hand, and how it impacted her, considering she doesn't normally deal with death

In this episode, we talk with Andrea Saporito who is a nurse in a retirement home in Torino, Italy. He tells us his experience not only as a nurse, but also as someone whose father got sick with COVID-19 and had to be in ICU for 2 weeks.

We talk with Hinali Pandya from Holistic Within (@holisticwithin) to discuss mental health during these difficult times and techniques we can apply to deal with the stress the pandemic has brought upon everyone

In this episode, we talk to Cata from Chile to understand what getting COVID-19 is from someone that was diagnosed with it.

In this brief pre-episode, I want to take the chance to introduce myself, tell the story of how the podcast came to be, and give a sneak preview of what is to come in the next episodes. Welcome, and thank you for listening!