They say behind every great man is a great woman. These days, behind every politician is a sign language interpreter.
"It's good to have someone standing there presenting this very important information in their own language that they can actually see and better comprehend," said Dawn Munroe who works the Knox County Health Department briefings.
"Even the best lip readers can only get 40 percent at best of what anybody is saying because so many different words look so much the same on your mouth," she said.
While interpreters have become ubiquitous, their language is not universal. There are different languages for different countries and different dialects within each language.
"People from the Northern part of the country tend to speak faster and sign faster," Munroe said.
With COVID-19 comes new signs for new words that even people who can hear aren't used to hearing.
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"It just starts somewhere and it's kind of like a virus, it spreads," Munroe said of new signs.
Every once in a while, an interpreter can steal the show, but their gusto is a language priority--not passion.
"It's part of the language itself," Munroe said. "Facial expressions are very important -- they show different types of grammar, different types of questions."
When the answers can be the difference between illness and health, it's important to have someone who can speak to a community that cannot hear.