Remember that time in the coronavirus pandemic when people around the globe would open their windows and cheer for the health care workers on the front lines of the new disease?
San Diego brought it back.
The city called on its citizens to open their windows and make some noise for health care workers -- cheer, bang pots, hey... whip out that vuvuzela -- on Thursday.
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It's a small act, but one meant to show gratitude to the hundreds of nurses, doctors and staff who for two years have been working countless hours with limited staffing to fight COVID-19.
“We have been through a lot as a city these last two years and this month we’re reviving that spirit of appreciation and gratitude," San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera said.
For its part, the city has proclaimed March 2022 "Healthcare Heroes Month" and presented the honor to the Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties during a ceremony at Balboa Park.
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"We were just starting as anesthesia residents and kind of getting our feet set in what we were going to be doing for the rest of our lives, and all of the sudden things changed."
"We were a little scared, just because we really didn't know much back then," UC San Diego Health hospitalist Kevin Kwak said. "But also excited to take care of the first patients and be on the frontlines."
A crowd at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park erupted in applause for Kwak and his colleagues who stayed brave in the face of the pandemic that to date has taken the lives of 5,100 San Diegans.
"We wanted them to know that really do so appreciate that. Through all the divisiveness, all the conflict, and somehow controversy about something as simple as healthcare, that we really do truly appreciate them," Elo-Rivera said.
Friday, March 11 marks two years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. NBC 7 will have special coverage at 4, 5 and 6 p.m.
