Let’s Talk About Covid-19
OPINION PIECE:
If anyone mentioned to me that I would live be living through a pandemic I would most certainly think the person was absurd. Who would have though that in 2020, the dawn of a new age, the world would shut down. This prospect never even crossed my mind once and probably would not have. I am sure we have all seen movies with deadly viruses and how they destroyed the entire population, but I never thought it would happen in real life, especially in my generation.
My plan in 2020 was to finish freshman year with new friends, memories, and plans for the future. However, all my dreams were turned upside down just like the entire world. I can still vividly remember the day CNN categorized Covid-19 as a pandemic; it was a surreal feeling that I will not forget. At the time, I was still in school thinking about what was going to happen next. Surprisingly, fear did not strike me when I first heard the word "Pandemic" because I kept telling myself that we live in an age with modern day medicine and technology. I assumed life would resume as normal and the virus would just disappear.
The next thing I remember I was reading an afternoon email from my school informing its students that it would be closed on Friday due to a possible exposure. Coincidentally, two weeks before my history teacher told us that school might shut down because of the virus, but we all thought she was exaggerating. But in reality she was completely right. Everything shut down. School transitioned online, and the idea of normality went out the window. Fear had finally struck and in great amounts. The world I remember pre-covid seems like a distant reality, sometimes even like a dream. I keep thinking that I am living in a nightmare but it's reality.
If I could time travel back to when everything was normal I would do it in a heartbeat. There would be no second guessing myself. And as I am writing this opinion piece it may seem that I believe there is no hope for the future, but there is. Vaccines are the hope for a return to normality. WGO's mission is not to indoctrinate any of its followers, and I don't plan to do that with my written pieces, which is why this is categorized as an "Opinion Piece." However, I do want to share my thought process. (Please feel free to disagree).
It has been over a year since Covid-19 originally started and I do sympathize with those who thought the virus would not get to the degree that it has gotten to. As stated above, I could not wrap my head around the idea of a pandemic, which is understandable when this first started. But as time went on, people began dying at quicker rates, and when Italy collapsed everything should have changed. The world was witnessing first hand the destruction of Covid-19. Yes, China was also the first epicenter of the virus but not much was seen, documented, or provided for the world to see. Therefore, in my mind Italy became the wake up call for everyone.
For me, an ideal response would have been for world leaders to be on the same page but that did not happen. And quite honestly this expectation was never going to be met because of the polarizing world we live in. Nevertheless, leading countries, such as the US, should have sprung up to action in regard to Covid-19 response. The virus should have NEVER been politicized in the first place because it is what caused so much disagreement between parties. Covid-19 became a political card for politicians to play with and that is not the way to lead the country.
Science changes all the time; it is not stagnant, which means it can fluctuate at any given point. We need to understand that the virus can change which can alter the Health Departments guidelines. I remember that at the beginning of the pandemic Faucci told us not to wear a mask and conserve it for healthcare workers, but his advice changed as the virus worsened and it will continue to do so. No one really knows everything about COVID-19 and it is still a learning process.
The swift changes in opinions cause confusion, discomfort, and anxiety. Who were we to believe during this crisis? Everyone had different opinions and still do, which is why there is so much misinformation. Were we to believe the President, Faucci, or our local politicians. It is normal to want to believe the President because that is what we are supposed to do. We look towards the President as a figure of trust, legitimacy, and strength but the initial Covid response team communication was a disaster. Everyone had different opinions and it became infuriating. It seemed that White House press conferences were less for informing the public and more for political gain. Eventually, we all had to sift fact from fiction and trust science, even though it fluctuates. (Politics should not interfere with the lives of people) At some point, we need to take the future in our hands and use the solution we have, the vaccine. And if you choose not to get vaccinated, as it is your choice, then please do wear a mask!
