Reporter reveals what news stories can't explain about New York

For six weeks, Nine News' Alexis Daish covered the coronavirus outbreak in New York, one of the world's hardest hit cities.

Yet it was the flight back to her home to LA that which said made her most anxious during the assignment.

"The minute we started heading to the airport, we covered up and spent whole flight covered," reporter Alexis Daish told A Current Affair.

"It just felt like forever. Because I was just sitting there trying to cover my nose and mouth… I was just so worried that I was going to catch it in the final hour," she added.

Ms Daish is now in self-isolation in Los Angeles home for the next two weeks, something the White House recommended for anyone leaving the epicentre of New York. "It's a bit of a weird thing to be back home in a quiet apartment after such a crazy six weeks," the reporter said.

Ms Daish's fiancé has moved into a hotel for those two weeks as a precaution.

"He might get exposed to the virus through me and then potentially transmit it onto his colleagues," Ms Daish said.

Back in the quiet of her own home, Ms Daish has been reflecting on her time in New York.

"The thing you can't really explain in a news story, is how the streets really feel…"

"There was just such a level of anxiety about this virus and the fact that New York was the epicentre, that really affected how people were behaving," Ms Daish said in a video diary.

Despite the "harrowing" situation, the reporter said she missed the brief moment at 7pm when the city comes back to life while everyone cheers and claps the medical workers.

Although she is no longer officially on assignment, Ms Daish said she is still glued to the news coming out of New York.

"At its worst, at the apex of this crisis in New York, there were some 700 New Yorkers dying every day.

"Australia has less than 100 people dead throughout this entire crisis thus far – so yes, the situation in New York has been terrible and tragic," she said.

"Now that I'm removed from the situation, I can understand why my parents were starting to question whether I should be in New York."

To see the numbers of new cases drop, as they have finally started to, "feels like a little victory", the reporter said

"I'm seeing something far sooner than I thought I would – light at the end of the tunnel."