In the Same Breath

Sometime in late 2019, and January 2020, a newly discovered virus, now known as COVID-19, quickly grew into a respiratory illness pandemic. There would be much debate on how it was born, or where it began. However, we now have learned that the virus can be especially deadly to humans with underlying medical problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer.

Moreover, the world has learned the hard way how easily the COVID-19 virus spreads, primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Hence, the inconvenient yet prudent use of masks and "social distancing."

Nanfu Wang's "In the Same Breath," is a cutting look at this devastating pandemic. She neatly weaves the political narrative with the personal suffering of people first hand after she flew to China with her infant to visit her family for the New Year.

This is her story, told through a documentary film that immediately fills the eyes with images of hospitals, medical personnel, Chinese and US news reports, fear, denial, and other visions of pure disbelief even as the virus continued to quickly spread beyond China and across the globe.

What may transpire from this documentary is that the world was unprepared for such a catastrophe, and the strong leadership that was necessary to form a reaction plan simply didn't come to pass.

As of August 20, 2021, 4,417,500 people have died from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.