目前，已有10.4万多美国人死于冠状病毒，180多万人被感染。冠状病毒对美国家庭造成的破坏很难让你清醒过来，尤其是当一些州试图逐步重新开放并恢复到现在的正常状态时。

《*****》以第一人称报道了上个月一名疗养院工作人员的母亲死于疑似冠状病毒，这是该剧《大流行》系列的一部分。弗朗西娜·贝利患有冠状病毒症状已经好几个星期了，她试图远离家人。

The thing is, I was trying so hard to be careful from the very beginning. It’s not like I was one of those people who didn’t pay attention. I work at a nursing home. I knew how fast this virus could spread. As soon as a few of the residents started spiking fevers in March, I went online to buy extra masks. We didn’t have the right protective supplies, and you can’t social distance when you’re a nursing aide.

贝利回家时头痛，开始咳嗽，身体上与家里其他人隔绝，包括她关心的70岁母亲，她给她提供家庭治疗，并不断检查。

但在母亲关心的时刻，她放下了面罩。

I was gasping and sobbing. I couldn’t talk. She told me: “Take off your mask. Let the air in.”

I pulled my mask down around my neck, and she held me. I needed it, and she needed to help. Our faces were touching. I was breathing on her. I wasn’t thinking about anything. I leaned on her until I was calm again, and then I put my mask back on and went upstairs.

没过几天，贝利的母亲就咳嗽了，不到一周就住院了。十天后，她母亲去世了。

让贝利用她自己的话向邮报讲述她家族的冠状病毒故事尤其令人崩溃。她责备自己感染了她母亲也感染的传染**毒，而不是责备她工作的养老院缺乏防护设备，或者**官员处理疫情的无能（坦率地说，这是罪魁祸首所在）。

下次有人问你为什么要戴口罩，或者练习社交距离，或者采取其他预防措施来防止致命病毒的传播，给他们看弗朗西娜·贝利的故事。这本书不容易读，但这正是重点。