Hot Spot: A Doctor’s Diary From the Pandemic

When Nashville identified its first case of coronavirus in March 2020, the city was between directors of public health and as unprepared as the rest of the world for what was to come. Dr. Alex Jahangir, a trauma surgeon acting at that time as chair of the Metro Nashville Board of Health, soon found himself in front of the cameras and eventually in the unenviable position as head of the city’s Coronavirus Task Force.

What followed was a year of unprecedented challenge and scrutiny. Jahangir, a first-generation Iranian immigrant, grew up in Nashville-but that didn’t stop ethnic, racial, and cultural tensions around masking, schools, vaccines, and the very reality of the virus from dominating what should have been a collective effort at keeping Nashville healthy and safe.

Hot Spot is Jahangir’s narrative derived from his actual op notes (the journal-like entries surgeons often keep following operations) and expanded to include his personal reflections and a glimpse into the inner sanctums of city and state governance in crisis.