Pandemic Experience

By Michael Brighton

On January 21, 2020 the CDC confirmed its first Coronavirus case in the United States. March 7, Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a state of emergency for New York. The pandemic has been going on for almost a year now and yet it feels like a longer time. My life has changed very much since the start of the pandemic. The pandemic caused a lot of stress physically, mentally and for everyone around me. The world changed in a matter of a few months to something I thought I'd never experience in my life.

When I was younger I remember when the Swine Flu was a big deal and people in school were worried about catching the virus. After a few months the virus was non-existent and scientists were telling people there is much worse to worry about than the swine flu. Flash forward to the present day, I am now seeing another strain of virus that is unlike anything we have seen. The virus caused mass shutdowns all across the world and millions of people have been affected and many have died. According to "Coronavirus World Map: Tracking the Global Outbreak" in The New York Times, about 1.4 million people and counting have died from this virus as of early December. Vaccines are being rushed and being created faster than ever, which is making people cautious of how safe these vaccines really are.

Quarantine Effects

As stated before, because of the virus many people across the world including me have been affected in multiple ways due to the quarantine. When Governor Cuomo first announced the stay at home orders i was unsure how life was going to be. Every week leading up to the quarantine consisted of going to the gym, hanging out with friends, hiking, and going out at night for drinks. These are things I took for granted before quarantine. On April 16, almost a month later, Cuomo extended stay at home orders. When this happened I was upset and started to worry about all the summer plans I’d made before the virus. Then another month goes by only to find out the quarantine was extended once again until June 13. At this point I was becoming very depressed and irritated. I was drinking more alcohol and was not leaving bed all day.

Most of this stems from me not going to the gym. With the gym being closed I didn't have my outlet anymore. Working out made me happy and if i was upset i would go to the gym and let it go away. It was my therapy. I'm not gonna lie, i was visiting my 3 closest friends at the time, but we were all becoming bored and were drinking heavily when we did meet.

The Phases

Cuomo announces his 4 phase plan to slowly reopen parts of New York. Each phase was different for parts of New York, depending on the amount of cases and new cases. Phase 1 and 2 started in June, which consisted of places that had a low infection rate. Phase 3 and 4 were the most at risk ones. Places like outdoor dining were introduced and larger shopping areas like malls and museums were reopening at low capacity. Many people were upset with how slow the phases were taking to open and the decisions of who gets to open first had businesses trying to sue Governor Cuomo. There were arguments over why people can go to a packed Walmart, but they are not allowed to go on their favorite hikes. I felt like I was under the same quarantine rule because nothing much changed for me. Gyms were still not allowed to open and I was an essential worker and college student, so my weeks stayed the same.

My Plan

Once I saw that the quarantine was becoming less strict and when my area reached phase 3, I knew it was time to change. I wasn't happy the past 3 to 4 months, so I decided to take things into my own hands. Knowing that I was wasting my summer, I started to exercise pretty daily. My days would consist of running around my neighborhood listening to music. I also found a man on Facebook who was selling dumbbells, so i can exercise more. Doing these simple things were not only to keep in shape, but to keep my hopes up. Each day I was checking the news on what is opening next and listening to Cuomo's live updates. These things improved my mental state and were enough to last until today.

Overall, my experience during this pandemic has been a roller coaster of emotions and I believe that goes for everyone else. The pandemic made us realize who we really are and what is important in our lives. It also put us in a situation to see how we are under tough and stressful circumstances. Many of us, like me, were affected hard early on and then overcame what we were dealing with to end up where we are now. The pandemic is still not over and nobody knows when it will be, but we know that there is an end in sight and that is something to look forward to.