2020 Year in Photos: US COVID-19 Response

Adelia Patterson, wellness and life enrichment director at Focused Care at Beechnut long-term care facility in Houston, Texas, plays the ukulele for a resident singing along. “I think mental health support is very much needed in this field,” says Adelia. “Especially at times like that, because we're just caregivers at heart. We don't take the time to care for ourselves.” United States 2020 © Christopher Lee

A resident visits with a family member for her birthday at Focused Care at Beechnut, a long-term care facility in Houston, Texas. Because of COVID-19, visitors must stand outside and communicate by phone with the residents. United States 2020 © Christopher Lee

Perry McAfee, MSF health and wellness officer, leads a training session for nursing home staff at Focused Care at Beechnut, a long-term nursing care facility in Houston, Texas. "COVID has had a really huge effect on the personal life and work life of those individuals who work in nursing facilities,” says Perry. “Many of them have to work long hours—12-, 16-hour shifts, multiple days in a row. That has a huge effect on their wellbeing.” United States 2020 © Christopher Lee

Staff at Advantage Living Center in Wayne, Michigan, pose for a group portrait in their “nerd day” outfits. Long-term care facility staff face anxiety and grief in their day-to-day reality, especially after losing colleagues and residents to COVID-19. Nevertheless, they work hard to boost the morale of their residents, organizing activities like door-to-door karaoke down the hallways, and themed outfit days to make residents smile. United States 2020 © Ali Lapetina/MSF

“Heroes Work Here!” reads a sign outside Advantage Living Center in Roseville, Michigan, a skilled nursing facility where MSF provided COVID-19 health education, infection control trainings, and mental health and wellness support. As of November, deaths of patients and staff in long-term care facilities accounted for 40 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the US. United States 2020 © Ali Lapetina/MSF

An MSF team member assembles water jugs for handwashing stations to be donated to soup kitchens and supportive housing facilities in New York City. United States 2020 © Michelle Mays/MSF

Members of the MSF team pose with other medics at a mobile COVID-19 testing clinic in Immokalee, Florida. The free clinics were designed to be easily accessible to migrant farmworkers and other essential workers by offering services within the community, during evening hours, and with staff who speak English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. United States 2020 © Taimy Alvarez/MSF

MSF nurse and health promotion manager Sarah Kuech (left) and MSF health promoter Maria Plata (right) wave to residents of Immokalee while spreading the word about free clinics in the area. They also answer questions from local residents, and provide health education to reduce misinformation and stigma around COVID-19. United States 2020 © Taimy Alvarez/MSF

At a mobile testing clinic supported by MSF in Immokalee, Florida, a nurse for the Collier County Department of Health gives a free COVID-19 test to an area resident. Working with local partners and targeting communities at risk, MSF helped administer 465 COVID-19 tests over six weeks. As of June 2, 36 percent of those test results came back positive—compared to a state positivity rate of 5.6 percent. United States 2020 © Taimy Alvarez/MSF

A view of the COVID-19 isolation ward inside the Gallup Indian Medical Center (GIMC) serving the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. MSF worked with community leaders and health care workers in the Navajo Nation to strengthen infection prevention and control measures in May and June, when the per capita infection rate here was higher than in any single US state. United States 2020 © Jake Pitts/MSF

Artists with Colectivo Moriviví in San Juan pose in front of a street mural they created in partnership with MSF to spread health promotion messages. The vivid pieces feature uplifting messages like, "Let's cancel plans, not humanity" and “Distancing is physical, not social.” United States 2020 © Gabriella N. Báez/MSF

MSF nurse Rolando Betancourt (left) and physician Dr. Jonathan Caldera (right) provide a medical consultation outdoors to a patient in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, where we partnered with a community-based organization to provide mobile medical services. In October, MSF handed over its medical activities to Puerto Rico Salud, a new local organization created by Betancourt and other members of our Puerto Rican team. United States 2020 © Gabriella N. Báez/MSF