December 26th 2019: I was in New York for my winter break, exploring the wonderful sights the place had to offer. After a long day of walking around the city, my family headed back to the hotel enveloped in shopping bags, warm hot dogs, and big smiles. Usually after this type of day, it was tradition to eat dinner on bed and watch the news. The bright headlines bore the screen, the information going through one ear and out the other. The news didn’t interest me much back then. To me, the news held the same things each time: U.S politics, tax rates, protests and sneaky business advertisements. That didn’t really scream the word ‘interesting’. Few stories later, suddenly the headlines became bolder and the sound was clearer. This was something that I liked. This was about a virus outbreak. What I learned was that there was an outbreak in china, a virus roaming freely in the city of Wuhan. “Not much of a big deal to the rest of the world,” the government thought. And how wrong they came to be.
“We are in this together; and we’ll get through this together.”- WHO
March 15th 2020: A lot of things happened after that, including the virus spreading to other countries, new discovered information and the world was undoubtedly in a crazy situation. According to the data, the entire world spends more money on military than anything else, and funds for medical outbreaks/diseases is 3rd on the funding list. Exactly on this day, at 12:01 pm, the world was locked down. I personally never experienced this before, neither did my parents and maybe millions of others haven’t, but one thing I’ll tell you; it’s no piece of cake. We adapted into the new world of wearing a mask, social distancing and avoiding to touch your face. My parents went early morning so they could line up in front of stores to get the supplies we needed, like Lysol wipes and toilet paper. I stayed home basically the entire time, trying to cram in any amount of knowledge I could from the wrecked online school system. Now after my research, I realize I have no reason to complain. I used to think zoom is a glitched, boring meeting platform. Now I use it in luxury, feeling thankful each time I press the enter meeting button. Some can say “Oh so dramatic,” and I used to be that some. Out of my lock down experience, I would say 1 thing: appreciate the littlest things, like going to school and entering a store without a piece of cloth pressed tightly to your face, covering your mouth and nose. Lock down is serious business.
A little bit about the virus
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness. The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is to be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol based rub frequently and not touching your face. The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also practice respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow).
The side effects of a pandemic
Now we’ll go through what a pandemic really is. Who decides it’s a pandemic? What is the proper definition? Well, usually it’s the WHO (world health organization) that declares it, but not without numerous facts and data to back up the idea. A pandemic is the second level to an epidemic. An epidemic is an outbreak in a certain state/province or country, but a pandemic is worldwide. The word pandemic holds a lot of power. It holds the word panic in it! But a word is a word. If a pandemic is declared, it can cause lot’s of unnecessary panic and chaos, but yet it can inform people “This is no joke, follow the protocols, read the data, stay safe.” Conspiracy theorists also spread fake news, “I have the perfect cure!” “The government lies!” “Don’t wear a mask, we don’t need it!” Not true. These kinds of rumors can lead to bad influences on people, which multiplies the chaos. Watching exaggerated news stories or movies can scare people and make them do wrong things. Elderly’s or even youngsters may be affected by lock down and suffer depression by being locked in one place the entire time. Mental health is an issue when there is a pandemic. Restaurants and small businesses may suffer because of the lack of customers. Homeless people don’t have the supplies they need. Overall, lot’s of things happen in a pandemic other than the virus spread, and it’s always good to meditate and be THANKFUL, because trust me, there are so many things to be thankful about. “None of us can stop a pandemic in a snap of the finger, but we can all work together and do your part.”
