Ed Yong: Must-Read Stories of the Pandemic

Ed Yong: “Amy Qin’s stark dispatches from Wuhan were among my most important “oh shit” moments from the earliest months of the pandemic. They vividly captured what the new virus was capable of.”

EY: “Helen Branswell is perhaps the most respected veteran of the infectious disease beat—a tireless reporter who was covering the pandemic from its very first week. In this piece, she shows that even seasoned public health experts underestimated the COVID-19 threat early on. It’s an important historical marker that the world should learn from when thinking about pandemics of the future.”

EY: “Roxanne Khamsi has been one of the very best pandemic journalists, repeatedly finding important stories well ahead of anyone else. Her piece on whether the new virus is airborne, and the tricky scientific debates around that seemingly simple word, came out months before the matter was furiously debated by the scientific community.”

EY: “Zeynep Tufekci has been consistently right about the pandemic from the beginning, calling attention to the need for masks and better ventilation well before either became commonly discussed. This piece—an explanation of the superspreading problem and what to do about it—is her crowning achievement. It’s a masterpiece of science writing, taking difficult concepts and suffusing them with clarity and urgency.”

EY: “Faced by an entirely new disease and strained emergency rooms, doctors were pulled between the need to try something, anything, right now and the need to accumulate evidence about what treatments actually work. This is a tough topic, but one that’s masterfully and compassionately handled by Susan Dominus, surely one of the most formidable magazine writers working today.”

EY: “When COVID-19 first arrived in the U.S., nursing homes took the brunt of its assault. This astonishing piece details what happened in the first American hotspot—the Life Care Center of Kirkland. Extraordinarily gripping, it conveys how scared, confused, and unprepared parts of the country were for a pandemic.”

EY: “More than perhaps any other piece, this haunting account of what the new coronavirus does to hospitals has stuck in my mind. Helen Ouyang juxtaposes her first-hand experiences in New York with the similar ordeals endured by colleagues in Lombardy. It is an extraordinary piece of writing, and a grim harbinger of what hospitals throughout the U.S. would face at the end of the year.”

EY: “At least 250,000 Americans have died of COVID-19—a huge number that elides unfathomable tragedy into cold digits. Sarah Kaplan cuts through the habituation, and tells the story of just one of those deaths—Keith Redding, and the people who now grieve him.”

EY: “In this shattering essay, Jesmyn Ward writes about losing her husband at the start of the year, and dealing with grief through the pandemic, the protests, and more.”

EY: “While pundits argued about whether COVID-19 deaths are overcounted or undercounted, Maggie Koerth showed why it’s the latter in this deeply moving piece. It effortlessly moves from personal tragedy to statistical shenanigan, allowing both to illuminate the other.”

EY: “COVID-19 disproportionately infected and killed Black communities in the U.S.. Julia Craven beautifully explains why in this piece, in which she juxtaposes the poignant stories of two women against a sweeping look at America’s centuries-old legacy of racism.”

EY: “Among a litany of bad decisions, this was a year in which the U.S. collectively chose to prioritize bars, restaurants, and gyms over schools. This lack of foresight will have especially important consequences for the millions of children with disabilities.

EY: “While surrounding Oklahoma floundered, the Cherokee Nation beat back its COVID-19 surge thanks to strong leaders who listened to public health officials. This is one of many great pieces from Usha Lee McFarling, who has spent the year focusing on marginalized communities.”

EY: “The U.S. has an unfortunate tendency to castigate individuals for societal failures, offering blame and shame instead of guidance. Julia Marcus has led the charge to resist that instinct. Consistently, she has offered sensible and much-needed advice on navigating risk, and urged everyone else to lean towards compassion and empathy instead of judgement and punishment.”

EY: “For years, Amanda Mull’s work at The Atlantic has redefined my conception of what health journalism can be. This piece is a good example—a thought-provoking and often profound look at why feeling safe and being safe are so very different, and why that difference has mattered so much during this pandemic.”

EY: “In the spring, as the world sheltered in place, many pieces were written about whether distancing would blunt the sting of climate change. This is not one of those pieces. Meehan Crist, one of the most thoughtful writers I know, offers something more profound—a sweeping, forward-looking look at two of the most pressing problems of our time.”

EY: “‘On the first day of summer, Siberia and I were the same temperature.’” That's the incredible opening sentence of Bathsheba Demuth's essay on COVID-19, climate change, and how slowly the abnormal becomes normal.”

EY: “Finally, hope. With the announcement of positive results for several vaccines, the pandemic endgame is now upon us—and in record time. This is the stirring story of the scientific achievement of the year, as told by one of the most accomplished science writers working today.”