It’s been one year since New York City documented its first case of COVID-19.

Since that day in 2020, the city has gone through a collective pain and trauma that had previously seemed unimaginable.

This is particularly true for the city's health care workers.

On the one-year mark of the pandemic's arrival in the city, Brendan Carr, chair of emergency medicine for the Mount Sinai Health System, told "Mornings on 1" that while the crisis remains, a better sense of "normalcy" is not too far off.  

He also said that while the city is still seeing a steady stream of patients with coronavirus, health care workers feel as though a weight has been lifted now that there’s a vaccine.

“We want people to start interacting again, we just want them to be really mindful and safe about it," Carr told NY1. "We don’t have enough people, as you know, vaccinated just yet, but it feels very different working in the emergency department now versus pre-vaccine."

He said nice weather and a larger population of people who have been vaccinated will soon converge.

“We are two months away from feeling like we can spend time with friends outside because it’s nice out, and also because we’re feeling much safer, like we have enough people vaccinated to keep the rates down,” he said.

Carr also noted that many people who didn’t have proper health care are getting the health care they need now.

The Mt. Sinai doctor reflected on a tough year, but also mentioned special moments like playing music for COVID patients being released from the hospital.

He said the city has come a long way in terms of virus knowledge and treatment from this time last year.

“A year ago, we didn’t have a test, we didn’t have surveillance, we didn’t know the disease, we didn’t have therapies, we didn’t have effective treatments,” said Carr.

“And we do now, and we can track the rates, so we can give guidance to a population who also has gotten an amazing schooling on what social distancing means, and what careful means, so when we ratchet it up or ratchet it down we can rely on the public to help us,” he continued.