Up until a year ago Dr Richard Chen had been running an urgent care facility, treating broken bones and acute medical problems.

All that changed when Covid-19 hit our shores.

In February last year, Dr Chen signed on to help run quarantine facilities at the Whangaparoa Naval Base – the facility that dealt with returnees of Wuhan and then from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Since then he’s been on the frontline of New Zealand’s Covid-19 fight as the lead medical officer at the Jet Park Quarantine facility, where positive Covid-19 cases are sent to quarantine and recover from the virus.

Dr Chen joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss his experiences over the last year, as the world this week marks the one year anniversary of the pandemic being declared.

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