Surviving Work During COVID-19

Working through COVID was a nightmare. I hated it! I hated being at home alone with my two cats that constantly demanded my attention and had virtually zero human interaction because everyone was social-distancing. On the other hand, I felt very fortunate that my bosses were extremely smart on how they had the firm set up since day one and are always on the forefront of any new technology that comes along. We had amazing VoIP phones that were capable of operating anywhere where there was ethernet connection, which we took home, a case management system that was web-based, which is phenomenal (thanks FileVine.com! You saved our firm! ), and most importantly, our firm is very anal about scanning documents and being very meticulous about keeping notes. While many firms suffered a catastrophic collapse because they didn’t have any systems capable of being used remotely, our firm was actually flourishing. At least operationally. I wish I could say the same for my mental state.

For the first few weeks, it was dead. There was almost nothing to do. For the first few weeks, all I did was complete a few tasks, update medical records, and follow up with some clients about their treatment. Most people were panicking. Carriers were shutting down, and for the most part, trying to figure out how to work remotely or transitioning to work remotely. Most insurance carriers have hundreds if not thousands of employees. For any large corporation, regardless of the type of business that you are running, it is a technical nightmare that can potentially cripple any business. One small mistake or delay can cost a small business tens of thousands of dollars a month. Most insurance carriers lost millions! You really didn’t know what was going to happen, how long this would last, and what would be the end result. The bosses would also call endlessly, asking me if there were any settlements, even though most examiners were not picking up the phone or were just beginning to work from home.

Waking up and going to sleep was beginning to turn into a nightmare as well. It was getting pretty cold, everything was closing early, and there was nothing to do. That means I would wake up, wash up, and get to work—all without even being able to step out because there was nowhere to really go. After work, there was nowhere to really go either. Everyone was panicking, staying home, and social-distancing. It was just me and my cats! I was going nuts! I couldn’t even visit my parents because they were scared that I would give them COVID from outside. I had to think of something before I was going to go into a deeper state of despair. So I began working out in the morning. I wasn’t doing anything crazy. For the most part, I would wake up early and take a long, fast-paced walk for at least an hour. That workout helped me tremendously. Aside from my morning fast-paced walking routine, there was no other physical activity to do. Nowhere to go. It was too cold, and everything was shut down in NYC. Even the dating scene was odd. Women only wanted to chat online or on video. No one actually wanted to meet. Things started to get boring really quickly.

At some point, boredom and depression hit hard. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Since everyone was socially distancing, I was up to no good. Created various hacks to troll scammers, which I proudly document on my YouTube Channel, and even created my own wine, which I promised myself not to drink until we are out of this damn lock-down, which I did. My cat approved.

As far as work was concerned, more and more carriers began to start picking up the phones, and more settlements were starting to come in. Most examiners were bored as well and really didn’t care much about anything at that point. Most examiners that were working from home had their own versions of living in hell as well. They lived with their significant others and kids. It was a chronic affair when you hear their significant others or the kids screaming in the background as you’re trying to negotiate a case. In fact, some examiners would be talking to me about a case and then abruptly put me on hold because their significant others and/or kids were endlessly raging in the background about something. The monotony was real. On top of that, there was that ever-present pressure from my bosses to perform as if nothing had changed. But a lot did change. Most examiners were impossible to reach. Things were done at an excruciatingly slow pace.

By April 1st, 2020, things really began to take a turn for the worst. Happy April Fools in NYC, I guess. In New York State alone, we were experiencing a staggering amount of death almost every day. Insurance companies lost some good examiners, and some New York City attorneys died due to COVID-19. Mostly due to doctors’ terrible failure in judgment. Doctors were instructed to intubate everyone who had COVID-19, who had difficulty in breathing or had low Oxygen Saturation Levels, knowing very well that intubating has significant risks. Not to mention, no one really knew how or if intubated patients would even recover.

If you look at the COVID-19 statistics, specifically between March 20th and June 23rd, you will notice that more people died due to COVID-19 even though there were fewer covid cases compared to the peak of COVID-19 cases on January 13th, 2021, when, at the height, only 200 people died from COVID-19. Did doctors finally figure out how to manage COVID-19? Numbers don’t lie. These statistics were done by CDC. Furthermore, Dr. Ezike, the Illinois Director of the Department of Public Health, admitted that regardless of the nature of death, doctors were instructed to label each dead as COVID related death if, at the time of death, the patient was COVID-19 Positive. Whether the patient had cancer or some other terminal disease or died due to an injury, the cause of death was labeled as COVID-19. If you ask me, I think something fishy is going on, and I’m not a conspiracy theorist.

Throughout the entire time working from home, we, as in the legal workforce such as lawyers, courts, insurance companies, created a new norm. Conferences were held via remote phone or video conferencing, more and more legal proceedings were filed electronically, and even depositions are now held via video conferencing. I have seen cases where attorneys on holiday in Mexico were presiding over a Compliance Conference. Remote working has become a standard as if it was going on for years. Even after eventually returning to the office, it was a slow process to fully adjust to getting back to work. Most staff was still a bit complacent and mentally recovering from essentially being on house arrest. Many staff members were still grieving for their lost loved ones as well as recovering from overwhelming anxiety, which is still persistent to this day.