Items

• 2023-03-21

  My experience

  Since I am a homebody and like my solitude, the lockdown was not terrible for me, personally. I was thankfully able to work remotely, and used my sparetime, cooking, taking on line classes and learning about homeopathy which I use as my health path, but delved more deeply into it by taking on line classes. The meditation groups that I would attend in person, were able to convert classes to zoom, which was a truly wondrous thing. Other groups followed suit, and before I knew it, I was involved in groups all over the world by zoom - AMAZING! My cousins and I would meet every Sunday on Zoom to share experiences and catch up on "us". My mom who is now 95 was able to facetime with family several times a day (she was given an ipad by her grandson the year before) and it saved her from feeling isolated. Food deliveries were readily available, thanks to Pam Silvestri keeping us aware of the food community happenings. I realize many people had negative experiences, job losses, etc. or not able to cope, and I myself knew many people that passed during that time. I think this is a great idea to document the stories of the lockdowns and how it affected people in different ways. There is so much more to say, but I will keep it summarized and leave it here.
• 2021-08-02

  Giving The Family Covid

  One day I woke up fine and normal like every other day and I went to work. At round 2 pm that day I started getting headaches and my body was cold. It was really hot that day too while my body was cold. I told me boss I'm not feeling too well and I wanted to go home. I called my friend who works in a pharmacy my symptoms and he said its possible to be covid-19. He went to my house and waited outside with a rapid test and I met him there. We did a test in the car and after 15 minutes it came out positive. I called my dad who was in my house to come outside so I can break the news to him before the rest of my family because they would've freaked out. I told my dad that I'm positive for covid-19 and he went to setup the house for me and seclude me from everyone else. I went upstairs and I saw my family waiting for me and my uncle had his hand out to greet me and I ignored all of them without giving eye contact and went straight to my room. I rarely ever get sick from anything really. Im sitting in my room thinking I really got covid-19 thinking I'm immune and invincible because I'm a healthy 21 year old and I never get sick. Also no one in my family previously got covid I was the first. This pandemic has showed me what I'm not and I'm just like every other person. The good thing is I mentioned it to my boss and asked my friend to test me right away. This is what everyone should be doing, check up on yourself right away.
• 
  2020-03-30

  How to Stay Connected with Your Loved Ones While Social Distancing

  A blog post from Banner Health offering suggestions for staying connected with family and friends during social distancing.
• 
  2021-05

  A Year to be Remembered

  The start of quarantine was for me almost a blessing. A gate that locked us away from school for 2 weeks ironically gave me freedom. As these 14 days turned to weeks and weeks into a whole year, this “gate” that gave me freedom also locked me away from it. At first, I willingly mocked COVID because of how stupid it seemed. but reality struck as soon as one of my family members got it. It became a scary time in my life where both sides of the “gate” seemed like hell. I cried in the corner of my room and no one to reach out to as everyone in my family felt the same pain. As time was slowly ticking things I coped with my pain and things were looking brighter. This gate which kept me from reaching out to others was seemingly opening and I could feel like society going back to normal. It was only a matter of time when freedom unlocked this gate and give us a chance to be normal again.
• 
  2021-03-21

  How does the pandemic affect children?

  This link provided showcases the severity of the pandemic's effect on children's mental health and it becoming the next "wave" in the pandemic
• 
  2021-03-20

  If You Need To Read Lip's...

  At Muir Woods National Park the park ranger had a sign displayed, If you need to read lips just let them know and they will remove their face coverings to communicate with you. I was super impressed. This year has be rough. I make my husband do the shopping after a man yelled at me at the beginning of the pandemic because I didn't hear the cashier the next isle over when she said she could help me. The man yelled, "What are you deaf?" and I was too embarrassed to defend myself. I don't wear my hearing aids now because of the mask. Insurance wont cover the cost of the hearing aid and it costs more than my car. I am worried a hearing aid will fly off when I remove my mask so against the advisement of my audiologist I just keep them off. It's whatever. Seeing signs like this just impress me. Inclusivity matters.
• 
  2021-02-26

  Streets of San Francisco 2K21

  Streets of San Francisco 2k21 by @gregoryd1 #sf #sanfrancisco #sfchinatown #chinatown #regram
• 
  2021-03-21

  Don’t Give Me COVID

  For the past year, my husband has been the only one to do errands to keep the risk low. Anytime he went out, he showered and put his clothes in the laundry. No one has stepped foot inside our house in over a year. It may see extreme, but more than once during COVID, Southern CA was the country’s hotspot. We have been extremely cautious, and with both the death rates and people within our own circle who weren’t cautious getting infected during the winter spike, I do not regret our decision. Now numbers are thankfully declining and, even more significant, my mom (who lives with us) has received both doses of the vaccine and my husband and I should receive our second doses next week. Slowly, our lives will hopefully be able to open up a bit. But the moment captured here reminds me that the shift may not be as easy for our kids. My son, who hasn’t had a play date or left this street in months, flattened himself against the wall and refused to move when my mom came back from a Target curbside pick up. She didn’t even get out of the car but my son was terrified that she’d give him COVID. It’s going to be a long process to make them feel safe again.
• 
  2020-08-21

  How Indonesia's Education System Is Faring

  "Since March 2020, students, parents, and teachers in Indonesia have been grappling with school closures affecting 62.5 million students from pre-primary to higher education." With such a socioeconomically diverse population, it's difficult to gauge just how accessible isolated learning would really be during the pandemic. The Ministry of Education and Culture had to move quickly to assure that there was some structure and guidelines set in place for educational institutions to follow. Unfortunately, as internet access isn't quite the common luxury many households have, the ministry sought partnership with television programming stations. This was to, at least, provide educational material to those who have access to televisions but not internet. The article goes on to provide four ways in which they hoped would assist in the growing education deficiency. 1) Develop more solutions to reach students without internet access; 2) Increase connectivity and train teachers to deliver more effective and interactive online learning; 3) Identify and support those falling behind with differentiated instruction; 4) Support disadvantaged students to return to school.
• 
  2020-08-30

  COVID-19 Senior Year

  This story was important for me to share since it is my personal experience dealing with the pandemic. Although I was not sick personally, the virus took away the memories of my senior year.
• 
  2021-02-05

  One year later - Erie Quiet

  This is a picture near Lattie F. Coor Hall at Arizona State University. Normally this area would bustling with students, but now, a year after the start of the pandemic, it remains empty and quiet.
• 
  2021-01-27

  OC health care worker dies after receiving 2nd COVID-19 vaccine shot; official cause of death pending

  With any rushed medical treatment unforeseen consequences can occur. As the vaccine is released in the 10s of millions I pray Tim Zook's story is a completely isolated incident.
• 
  2021-01-21

  Cybernation

  This image practically sums up my entire experience in this unprecedented pandemic. Being confined to my room, I was mandated to attend online school through zoom. I now had to spend hours fixated on a screen, forced to learn in a distracting environment. With my phone by my side and countless thoughts running through my head, I found the learning process quite straining to both my mind and eyes. The only escape from school I had was spending time with my friends. However, with the ongoing pandemic and social distancing protocol, we were unable to see each other in person. Although we do see each other virtually, it is difficult to do fun activities as a group and momentarily release our stress. The digital realm has seemingly taken over my life, with untold hours spent through screens, I frequently felt isolated and disconnected from the outside world. I long to soon escape my bubble, to once again see my friends, family, teachers, classmates, and even strangers. For the time being, I will take advantage of this leisure time, hoping and dreaming for a normal society once again.
• 
  2002-09-12

  Quarantine

  This explains how much of an impact this pandemic has had on my life for the last 6 months.
• 2020-09-14

  The days that turned into weeks that turned into months that felt like years

  The news broke out of a deadly virus in Wuhan, but it felt isolated—almost as if it would not spread outside of a certain radius. However, as the early days of 2020 continued, that hope became less and less a reality for the epidemic, which was transforming into a pandemic, COVID-19. The impending fear of the virus circulated throughout the 24-hour news cycle and into the homes of many Americans, even the living room of my own shared apartment. Although, I did not feel the closeness of fear or unpredictability until mid-March. Being a senior in college, I had applied to graduate programs, of which I was scheduled to fly and do a university tour March 12-15. Come to find out later, the university was shutting down mid-semester and upon my visit, the virus was the talk of students, faculty, and staff. I remember walking and in and through Ronald Reagan International Airport (DCA) and not bumping into strangers going to their flights, having to wait in TSA for no more than 20 minutes, or worrying about if my flight was going to be obscenely overcrowded. You will note this is quite rare at DCA and illustrates the abnormality of the social situation of the airport due to the pandemic. More simply, people were staying home, shut up in their houses and apartments for the suspicion of who did or did not have the virus in a global city (Washington, D.C.) caused widespread panic. This is not the first time the world has erupted into a panic or shut themselves into the “safety” of their homes. A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe recounts the plague as it decimated London and the surrounding towns. He describes the plague as a great fire, one that, “if a few houses only are contiguous where it happens, can only burn a few houses; or if it begins in a single, or, as we call, a lone house, can only burn the lone house where it begins. But if it begins in a close-built town or city and gets a head, there its fury increases: it rages over the whole place, and consumes all it can reach” (150). Here we may understand, or at least in the context of my understanding and experience with COVID-19, that the virus would take root where it could consume, namely in large cities like New York City (where there was comparably a mass exodus and high rates of infection) and D.C (increases in COVID-19 cases daily). However, the 2020 pandemic reflects more than a mechanical, comparative read of Defoe’s Journal of social, scientific situations. It is a lens that begins to deconstruct how our current contexts affect the reading of the Journal—a flash of reality if you will. Who would have thought that a text published hundreds of years ago had a mirroring affect? Now that the global community is months into the pandemic, the U.S. being at around 7, I cannot help but think that the Journal is even more relatable. Defoe claims that, “The Justices of Peace for Middlesex, by direction of the Secretary of State, had begun to shut up houses…and it was with good success; for in several streets where the plague broke out, upon strict guarding the houses that were infected, and taking care to bury those that died immediately after they were known to be dead, the plague ceased in those streets” (Defoe 28). As I initially read this sentence, I was troubled by the intensity of shutting people up by force. Earlier in 2020, many people in the U.S., if not all, had experienced some form of mandate restricting their movements in public spaces. Although there was talk of Marshall Law, which may be like what Defoe describes here, people (generally) at first were willing to comply. After some time in homely isolation, some felt the need to loosen their habits of isolation. What complicates the reading for me because of my current context, is the discussion surrounding those who are symptomatic or asymptomatic of which Defoe claims that, “namely, that it was not the sick people only from whom the plague was immediately received by others that were sound, but the well” (144). I guess, now in 2020, we still do not have much of a solidified idea of how the virus is spread, reports varied and swayed between direct contact, airborne, or bodily fluids like through a sneeze or cough. Although, with viral and antibody testing, there is a clearer idea of who may have had or has the virus which is unlike that of Defoe’s context. Modern medicine has enabled researchers, physicians, nurses and doctors, janitorial staffs, and more to navigate the infectious field better. This in particular affected my reading because the general “we” understand more effectively the dangers, precautionary steps, and conditions around viruses. During the plague years that Defoe details, there was no scientific guidance, except for the religious guidance of God. The Journal at numerous points suggests that people after some time began to accept willing their fates of eminent death because of their lack of options. I would like to hope, that in 2020 this depressing fate mentality is not reflected as openly, although I cannot be sure. Rather than suggest that the Journal puts into perspective COVID-19, I would argue that COVID-19 puts into perspective the Journal; readers like myself can imagine how instances set forth in 2020 resonate in the Journal. I have not seen the physical effects of the virus on people like medical staff do, but I have witnessed the widespread fear and uncertainty surrounding: how can I keep myself/family safe, how will I begin to pay bills without a job, can I budget enough for food this month? I myself being laid off from my job while on my graduate school visit (and at the quick emergence of the virus on the East coast) yet struggling to find answers to these questions (thankfully I had help). I must say, the days felt long, the weeks felt longer, the months felt longest giving the impression we had been tackling the virus for years. Who knows, maybe the global community and within a U.S. context will continue to see spikes of COVID-19 for years to come. Like the unknowing in the Journal, we all just do not know. Work Cited: Defoe, Daniel. A Journal of the Plague Year. Dover Publications, INC, 2001.
• 2020-08-10

  Children in a pandemic

  Children and the pandemic. My four year old daughter does not understand what a pandemic is. She repeats that she cannot go outside or to school or to the park because of "the coronavirus". Her and her siblings, along with children all over the world, have been greatly impacted by this pandemic with no understanding of the ramifications of it's spread. Children have been sent home, isolated, many removed from space places like schools or after care programs. They have lost friendships and socialization. They have lost structure. Some have lost family members. Parents out of work have cost their family food or housing. Adults struggling to cope with their own depression and anxiety has increased children's as well. For me personally all seven of my children have been affected. My son was forced to move home from college and fell into a deep depression. My oldest daughter never walked across a graduation stage or finished her senior year. My fifteen year old with autism lost support services from school. My thirteen year old lost sports and his friendships. My ten year old with epilepsy had medical testing pushed back and then had hospitalizations with only one parent allowed, even had to be taken by paramedics alone to the hospital once. My seven year old with ADHD lost all class structure and intervention programs to help him and his anxiety and panic attacks have grown more severe. And my four year old, pictured above, lost her classroom and her joy from attending preschool daily. The new round of "return to school" virtually is brought with more anxiety and worry that the kids are not alright. The picture above showcases the innocence of a child wanting to explore the world, trapped inside and the slight sadness that this may be for the long haul.
• 2020-08-10

  Essential worker and a baby

  In the beginning of the pandemic I was 7 months pregnant and working in an ICU. As things starting getting worse more changes would come on how we operated day to day. Day to day became hour to hour, things would be changing. New policies, then new policies would change. I was also becoming concerned about how the rest of my pregnancy and delivery would be. When the policy came down that all hospital personnel had to wear a mask at all times I started to have a problem. Due to wearing a mask and being pregnant my gag reflex would be triggered and I would get sick. After trying to work for 3 days my only option was to take early maternity leave. So while I was not at work for most of the worst part of the first wave of the pandemic it was still a little unnerving. I stayed in contact with my coworkers and stayed up to date on my unit and the hospital policies. It was not only going to affect my job but also the rest of my pregnancy and delivery. On my last doctors appointment I was sent to labor and delivery to have my baby. I was nervous because honestly who wants to bring a life into a world of pandemic. I feared for the health of my newborn child. Upon admission you have to be tested for Covid-19, it was very uncomfortable! I was lucky to be able to have my fiancé there with me for the labor and delivery but once he left the hospital he was not able to return but only to pick me up from the door. Granted, this was my 4th child and I knew what to expect, it still was sad that he was not able to spend the entire time with me nor were my other children able to come and visit. At least I was able to have previous experiences of giving birth before the pandemic. After giving birth, we were pretty sheltered. No one visited. We never left the house unless absolutely necessary. My newborn son had only left the house to go to the doctor before this past week. I had to return to work so he is now attending a small daycare along with my 2 year old daughter. Their father and I are both essential workers. Having children during this time makes things so much more complicated. Can't take the kids to the store or to any appointments so trying to organize schedules is very complicated. I miss going out as a family. Before the pandemic my family and I would go every where together. Even if it was just the store. We loved just to spend that time together. Now I feel like we are never all together unless we are sleeping, then we are all home together. I pray for the day that we are all able to go out together, take kids to do activities and just spend time all together outside of the home. This pandemic has made me and I am sure many others realize how truly blessed we were and if at any point in our lives things get back to where they were before the pandemic to not take such things as going out as a family for granted.
• 
  2020-08-10

  The Heart of Fuquay-Varina

  All of the small businesses in downtown Fuquay-Varina, a small town south or Raleigh, NC, painted hundreds of hearts on their windows while they were closed during COVID. It brought a sense of togetherness for the entire town while we were all isolated at home.
• 
  2020-03-18

  Swiss female live streamer licks trash can, says she wants to get the virus.

  On March 18, 2020, the Swiss female live streamer has official announced that she has been infected with the coronavirus, and has been isolated treatment. More than ten days, she has been trying to infect the coronavirus. After ten days of efforts, she finally fulfilled her goal.
• 
  5/23/2020

  Anonymous Oral History, 2020/05/23

  Christina Lefebvre interviews an essential healthcare worker about the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 
  07/07/2020

  Anonymous Oral History, 2020/07/10

  Shanna Gagnon, of California, conducts an oral history interview with Anonymous. In the 30 minute interview they discuss numerous topics about the COVID-19 virus including shelter-in-place, early thoughts and feelings about the pandemic, consumer behaviors, supply chain concerns, employment, ventilators, death, face masks, politics, infection rates, social distancing, college, stimulus, deferred rent, and home and family life.
• 
  2020-03-05

  social media for quarantine

  social media still made some fun out of the quarantine situation from COV-19
• 
  2020-05-30

  CIUDADANO AREQUIPEÑO SE DESVANECE EN FERIA ITINERANTE

  En Arequipa exactamente en el distrito de Miraflores un cuidado que fue a realizar compras de alimentos de primera necesidad, en una de las ferias itinerantes que realizan las diferentes municipalidades de Arequipa se desvaneció en pleno mercado , intenta pararse y pide ayuda. Las personas alrededor se alejan y los trabajadores de seguridad solo le indican "que no se mueva que ya viene ayuda" para el pero el sujeto intenta caminar sin éxito y vuelve a caer, el cuidado muestra también signos de tos seca y dificultad para respirar.
• 
  05/05/2020

  Long-Term Changes?

  Today I decided I would do my run outside with my dad. We stayed pretty close and only went a mile out from the house, two miles total. On the run we passed my old elementary school and there was caution tape all around it. This made me feel like I shouldn’t be outside. I was only outside for twenty minutes though and I stayed six feet away from everyone I saw on the way including workers and even my dad. Also, I listened to a podcast which discussed something I really got to thinking about. It stated how the last time we were in a national state of emergency was 9/11. Before 9/11 you could just show up to the airport and get on your flight and go, but after the tragedy the government put up a lot of security in airports and now, we have to wait in long lines for police officers to look in our bags and sometimes pat us down. The last national emergency changed the world. We may think that the social distancing, quarantines, mask wearing, hand sanitizer, and elbow shakes instead of hand shakes are just temporary, but the reality is some of these things might stick and become a part of our world. It is a crazy thought that you might always have to carry a mask with you to the water park, school, etc. However, it could happen. Ultimately, this pandemic will change the world. *Original text of "Creator:" Nicole Dumitrascu #LSMS #NSD
• 
  03/24/2020

  Alexander Oral History, 2020/03/24

  Alexander describes how his life has changed in the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Some of his challenges include teleworking for a new job, watching over his kids now that they can’t go to school, and coping with shortages of necessities and lack of normal entertainment such as sports. He talks about how he thinks it is a good thing that his kids are not at school, as primary schools are known to be germ spreaders. Alexander conveys his hopes that the lockdown will end soon and normal life will be able to continue.