COVID-19 hit the economy hard with millions of Americans losing jobs around the nation. In health care alone, there have been 1.4 million job losses since January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Whether a pay cut, furlough or complete loss of jobs, athletic trainers have felt this impact.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about stress and uncertainty in personal and professional lives. Prior to the pandemic, when athletic trainers were stressed and needing someone to talk to, ATs Care was there.
“COVID-19 teaches us that we are part of something far greater than ourselves,” said Kristinn Heinrichs, PhD, ATC, PT, an athletic trainer in Vicenza, Italy. The coronavirus pandemic has known no bounds; it doesn’t see territory lines or know cultural differences, it has affected athletic trainers in every part of the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic left gyms, fitness centers, school athletic facilities and some outdoor recreation areas across the globe closed for months at a time. Only within the past couple of weeks have these places, all where athletes are used to going to maintain physical and athletic capacity, begun to reopen with limited capacity.