March 27, 2020
By: Bill Conger
For DeKalb County nurse practitioner Gianna Owens, the COVID-19 pandemic is taking a personal toll. All of her mother’s family including aunts and cousins along with Owens’ longtime friends from childhood live in Italy, where the virus has left thousands dead.
“All of my family is in lockdown with the exception of one that is a health care worker and has been keeping me abreast of the humanitarian crisis that is occurring in the hospitals,” says Owens, who at one point lived in the hardest hit area of Italy.
“When the first cases appeared in Italy at the end of January, I knew that in a highly global society it would be almost impossible to contain,” says Owens, who has been a health care provider for 30 years. Prior to relocating to Tennessee, she worked as an infectious disease nurse at Cornell University and was the Assistant Director of a 90- bed HIV/AIDS facility.
“I started hearing my family tell me about people showing up at homes in hazmat suits to remove bodies. To be true, I don’t think they [my family] even appreciated in its entirety what was going on. They will tell you that the lock down took place too late when the surge of infections had reached a critical situation, sort of like we are seeing here in New York.”
Then, she says the unthinkable transpired when one of her dearest friends, Lee Hostettler, who had been vacationing in Italy, came back sick to Nashville.
“We tried every avenue to get her tested, but since she had not been to China, she was not considered [a high priority for] testing.”
“I was overwhelmed because all I could think about was the millions of European travelers who were unknowingly carrying the virus here and that nobody had even seen them as a high risk category. Obviously, the CDC guidelines changed March 11, but from late January into mid-March, we had individuals returning or visiting the US from COVID hotspots while China was still the only focus.”
“Lee was not able to get tested till recently. It had been a month out before she could get tested. We assume she cleared it if she did have it, and we praise God for that.”
Owens says she had been closely following the news about the new coronavirus since its outbreak in China.
“I knew it was going to spread because I had taken an epidemiology class at UT Chattanooga and learned a great deal about pandemics. I am still in contact and in daily conversation with my professor at UT, Jenny Holcombe, and we have been analyzing information together almost daily.”
Owens’ connections to Italy began when the Army sent her dad to Italy where he was later stationed at the American Embassy in Rome. He met her mother, whose dad was the Director of the Ministry of Defense, and the two got married. Later, Owens was born on a military base in Texas.
“My parents moved back to Europe when I was five. I lived and travelled extensively in Europe and Africa and returned to the US in my early 20’s. I moved to DeKalb County 13 years ago and have lived here ever since.”
On top of hearing about the horrific family news from overseas, the health care worker has made a sacrificial decision to say good-bye temporarily to her daughter, Maria Little, a clarinet player in the D.C.H.S. band.
“Maria’s dad and I have decided to move Maria full time to his house, so that I can be less of a risk to her and concentrate fully on my job as a nurse practitioner without worrying about possibly spreading the virus to her. I fully understand now what our service men and women go through.”
Fortunately, for Owens, the battle against this virus hasn’t picked up in DeKalb County, and she remains optimistic thanks to the precautious steps local leaders have taken.
“Our mayors, the commissioners and emergency task force have been working tirelessly to contain the spread of COVID-19 in DeKalb County. I think they have done an amazing job warning places of worship and businesses and getting the schools closed down. It’s hard. I know that this economically hurts all of us, but I also know they have made the best decision to spare lives, especially in our community with so many elderly and where we are somehow all [are in close] contact to each other.”
Meanwhile, Owens stays in touch with colleagues that work in Massachusetts and New York City where health care professionals are slaving away to keep people alive.
“We joke. We cry. We share our fears, and we lift each other up. I am trying to learn everything I can about this disease, so that I can share it with the community but also be of service as a provider should the need arise.”