Friday, May 15, 2020

My Experience Living Through a Pandemic


By Eddie Hayes

The coronavirus or COVID-19 has truly taken the world by storm. In what seemed like overnight, the world went from business as usual to instantly going into full lockdown. This has been an extremely confusing time and everyone’s lives seem to have been to a degree turned upside down. I know for a fact that my life has been completely different ever since this virus started to gain worldwide attention.

New rules and restrictions have been placed on businesses and most public places throughout the country. We all are also tightly following the new social distancing guidelines, as this helps to stop the spread of the virus. If you go to the grocery store you will see basically everyone wearing masks to protect themselves and others, in an effort to lessen the risk of spreading the virus. Many places have now even made it mandatory for you to wear masks if you wish to enter. You also see numerous people either losing their jobs, or having their small businesses going under, because they are no longer getting enough business to stay afloat.

New Jersey has experienced some of the highest numbers of confirmed cases in the country. Governor Phil Murphy in March had declared a public health emergency. He has recently extended that order for another 30 days. “These declarations, unless extended, expire after 30 days. We’re still in a public health emergency,” Murphy said. 

The current number of cases in New Jersey has recently surpassed 130,000 and the death toll is around 8,500. Fortunately, the numbers in the state have finally started going down so that is some good news to hold onto. 
  
One major aspect of my life that has been completely altered is my social life, just like everyone else. For the time being, I can no longer casually go out and hang out with one of my friends. It has been months since people have been able to interact with each other regularly. I try my best to go outside and enjoy the nice weather when I can, while being careful not to get too close to anyone, and bringing a mask if necessary.

The whole country and even the world has gone into a full blown quarantine in order to reduce the spread. Another huge change has been school. All of our classes have been transferred to online, as we cannot currently go on campus and be in a classroom setting. Overall, my workload has been the same and I have no complaints about the online classes; however, I do know some people who the transition has not been as seamless for and they are struggling with the new style of learning. Also, my family has been trying to limit the amount that we go out as much as possible. Both of my parents wear masks when they are at work and when we go grocery shopping we make sure to be as safe as possible.
 
Reducing the spread is not only important to keep us all safe, but it is also important to slow down the infection rate so that we do not overwhelm hospitals. This is frequently referred to as flattening the curve. Although the coronavirus is still a serious threat and not to be taken lightly, the nationwide efforts to reduce the spread and the nationwide quarantine have definitely worked and have made the situation a lot better than it could have been if we had not heeded the advice of the professionals.

No one is positive when the world will go back to normal, as we all eagerly wait for breaking news of a new miracle vaccine that would thrust us back to our daily lives. Realistically, it will most likely still take some time until things can go back to the way they used to be. This event has been very significant and it will definitely take a while for people to get back to normal. There may be parts of our society that never truly go back to how they were before.

Overall, this pandemic has been truly life changing and has changed nearly every aspect of life. Things from our social life, the economy, to the healthcare system have all felt the wrath of this virus. Overall, the news on this situation has been getting better, which is reassuring and we can only hope that it is sooner than later until we can get back to our regular lives.


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