Jennifer Ashton - The New Normal: A Roadmap to Resilience in the Pandemic Era

I want to thank all who helped with this book, not necessarily in any order:

My ABC News family: It has been a privilege to work alongside the best team in network news during this historic time. The attention to detail, the concern for peoples lives and feelings, and the vigor with which we have committed to this pandemic has made it an honor for me to be a part of such a team. This includes: James Goldston, Wendy Fisher, Marc Burstein, George Stephanopoulos, David Muir, Robin Roberts, Michael Strahan, Amy Robach, T. J. Holmes, JuJu Chang, Michael Corn, Simone Swink, Alberto Orso, Christine Brouwer, Mike Solmsen, Chris Dinan, Almin Karamehmedovic, Justin Dial, Catherine McKenzie and the entire GMA3 team, my ABC News Radio family, Aaron Katersky, Eric Avram, Kerry Smith, Barbara Fedida, Debra OConnell, Bill Ritter, Brian Teta, Terence Noonan, Steve Baker, John Green, David Sloan, Sony Salzman, Eden David, Brad Mielke, Katie DenDaas, and the operations team, along with our amazing directors, crew, makeup and hairstylists, and security team.

Eric Strauss: You are my right-hand person at ABC News, the most talented producer, the most diligent head of the ABC medical unit, and the greatest work partner. While you may speak softly and slowly, you get more accomplished than anyone Ive ever met.

My coauthor, Sarah Toland: Working and writing with you is a personal and professional privilege. You are a beast on a deadline, a brilliant writer, and the best collaborator I could ask for.

My team at HarperCollins/William Morrow, including Lisa Sharkey: You always have your finger on the pulse of what people are interested in; and Matt Harper: You are a brilliant editor who is also just a really nice person.

My attorney, Bob Barnett: You are always calm, cheerful, and focused.

My medical practice, including my practice administrator, Carole Gittleman, and my medical assistant, Ana Olivera. We have worked together for more than fifteen years and are literally the three musketeers. Thank you for your commitment to our patients and for your friendship and support, both personally and professionally.

My patients: You inspire me every single day with your hunger for knowledge, your bravery, and your spirit. Your kind words of support mean the world to me.

My friends: Dr. Jennifer Haythe, Dr. Alice Kim, Dr. Patricia DeSalvo, Dr. Luis Diaz, Dr. Jeff Rapaport, and Dr. Adam Smith.

My family: my parents, Dorothy Garfein and Dr. Oscar Garfein; my brother, Dr. Evan Garfein; and my children, Alex and Chloe: I learn from you both every day, am inspired by you, and proud of the hearts and the minds you both have.

My favorite infectious disease experts: Dr. Todd Ellerin, vice chairman of medicine and director of infectious diseases at South Shore Health in Boston: Your medical insights and clinical expertise have been invaluable to me during this time. Your support means the world to me, before, during, and after COVID-19; Dr. Simone Wildes: You are a true role model to any girl who dreams of becoming a doctor; and Dr. Anthony Fauci: Knowing you and communicating directly with you throughout this (and other) historic viral outbreaks has been one of the most significant professional experiences in my medical career. Your elegance, along with your calm, warm, modest, and collegial personality, will always be remembered, and your service to the United States and the worlds public health sphere has made a profound impact that will never be forgotten.

And to everyone, everywhere, who has been affected by or changed by COVID-19: You are not alone. I believe we will become more resilient as a result of COVID-19, we will learn from our mistakes, we will celebrate our triumphs, and we will be more prepared for the next pandemic. We will get through this because we are all in this together.

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DR. JENNIFER ASHTON is the chief medical correspondent of ABC News, including Good Morning America, World News Tonight with David Muir, Nightline, and GMA3: What You Need to Know. Since joining ABC in 2012, Ashton has reported on a range of medical topics including the maternal mortality crisis, mental illness and suicide, and heart disease. At the onset of the 2020 coronavirus outbreak, Ashton appeared as the featured medical correspondent on ABC Newss Pandemic: What You Need to Know and has covered the outbreak extensively for the network since then, talking regularly with the worlds leading infectious-disease doctors. Ashton has met with the CDC director, visited the National Institutes of Healths vaccine development lab with Dr. Anthony Fauci, and met with members of the Coronavirus Task Force at the White House. In 2009, she received the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award for Excellence in Journalism for her work in television medical reporting.

Dr. Ashton is a graduate of Columbia College, Columbia University, and Columbia Medical School. She completed her residency training in obstetrics and gynecology and received a Master of Science degree in nutrition from Columbia University. She is board-certified in OB-GYN and obesity medicine and maintains a private clinical practice in New Jersey. The author of five other books, Ashton lives in New York City with her two children.

SARAH TOLAND is the coauthor of several bestselling books, including the New York Times bestselling Strong Is the New Beautiful with Lindsey Vonn. A former editor for Mens Journal, Prevention, and other national magazines, Toland has also written for the New York Times, Sports Illustrated , and a handful of other eminent publications. Toland lives in New York City.

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It happened on a public bus in Detroit.

A woman coughed repetitively. She didnt cover her mouth. She didnt seem to have any concern for others.

Jason Hargrove was driving that bus in March 2020. He was so angered by the incident that afterward he posted an eight-minute-long video on Facebook about what happened, pleading with people to take seriously what we were calling the novel coronavirus.

Eleven days later, Jason was dead from COVID-19. The fifty-year-old father of six died alone in the hospital, without his wife or any of his children by his side.

Days later, his widow, Desha Johnson Hargrove, appeared on Good Morning America to share his story, which had already made headlines around the world. Speaking exclusively with correspondent T. J. Holmes, she begged people to stay at home and take the recommended precautions so that her husbands death wouldnt be in vain.

Months later, Desha told me that she still felt people werent taking the pandemic seriously. This is not a norm that anyone thought wed see, but this is where we are, she told me by phone. And I want to help anyone from being in the spot that I am right now.