Patrick Chirico almost immediately sent his pregnant wife and two small children from their Brooklyn apartment to live with her mother in Watertown when the pandemic hit in February 2020.
Knowing that his family was safe, he stayed behind to do his part during those early days of COVID-19 to help make sure the medical community got some needed personal protection equipment when he worked on a project to manufacture 500,000 facial masks.
Once that work was complete, he returned to his hometown, where he joined his wife Brittany and 6âyearâold son and 3âyearâold daughter in July. Two months earlier, they purchased their first home, a threeâbedroom Cape Codâstyle house in Watertown.