By: Rebecca Capozzi | Staff Writer
When I first heard about COVID-19, my roommate’s mother had sent her an article about it and said how scary it was. This was back in January when it had not impacted the United States yet. As my roommate was reading the article to me, I thought that it was scary, but I did not think that it was something that we were going to have to worry about. Well, here we are just over 3 months later, and COVID-19 has shut down the entire world.
During the first week of March, it was announced that there was a singular case of COVID-19 in Westchester County, NY; it was a man in his 50s who lived in New Rochelle. Just a day after that was announced, it was confirmed that his wife, two children, and friend had come down with it. As the days went on, the numbers continued to skyrocket. Not even a week later, the New York Governor declared a state of emergency after there were 70 confirmed cases in Westchester County, 12 in New York City, and 7 elsewhere. I remember being relieved that I was not living at home, but also being worried for my family who lives 20 minutes away from where all of this was occurring. I also found it unbelievable that there were so many more cases in Westchester than the entirety of NYC.
I think everything became real for me when Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT put their classes online for a few weeks. My brother, a freshman there, called me saying that despite having online classes, they were still allowed to live on campus. I honestly thought that they were overreacting. However, the day after SHU announced this, Salve professors began to discuss the possibility of remote learning. I thought that if anything, we were going to have to be remote for a month or so, not for the rest of the semester. Then, just two days after SHU had told their students that they were allowed to live on campus, my brother called me saying that he had to move out within the next four days. That’s when I knew that it would be over for us, too.
When I came home to Westchester, I began to realize how bad this whole situation really was. The number of cases doubled or tripled every day and the death toll was rising. As the days went on, people that I know and had been in contact with began to come down with it. I just remember thinking, “I would be safer if I was in Rhode Island right now.”
On March 28th, the Governor of Rhode Island announced that New Yorkers would not be allowed in the state, and that if they are found in the state, they will be forced to quarantine for 14 days. Many people, including New York’s own Governor, thought that this was unnecessary and “not neighborly like”.
However, I completely agree with the Governor of Rhode Island. If she feels that this is going to protect the people of RI, then she has the right to do it. I honestly do not think that New Yorkers should be leaving the state at all unless it is completely necessary. Many of us have been exposed to this virus and might be carriers of it without even knowing. We need to be on lockdown. We can save lives just by staying at home.
My mother works at an assisted living home for senior citizens. Three weeks ago, a nurse’s family member had symptoms, but the nurse was still coming into work. She stopped coming into work when she began having symptoms. Little did she know, she was carrying the virus before she had symptoms. Now, seven residents in the community have tested positive, and some others have symptoms but have not been tested. Several employees have also come down with it. Since these residents are seniors, some of them are not going to survive. This is just an example of how dangerous and contagious this virus is. This nurse had no idea that she was carrying the virus, but she brought it into her workplace and spread it.
All employees have been provided masks and are sanitizing as much as possible, but this virus is so contagious that some people are still coming down with it. These are essential workers who obviously do not want to be working. By going to work, they are risking getting the virus and bringing it home to their families. Unfortunately, they have no choice and they just pray that they are taking the right precautions.
So many people have the options to stay home but are not. People should only leave their houses when it is essential for them to. When you do have to leave your houses, wear a mask and gloves. It’s weird to go into grocery stores now and see someone who is not wearing a mask and/or gloves. That is unfortunately the new reality for not only New Yorkers, but people around the world. I personally will not go to a public place without a mask and gloves, and I know many people feel the same way.
Social distancing is so important. Yes, I understand that we are young and that if we were to come down with COVID-19, our symptoms would most likely not be severe or life threatening. But us getting sick is not the problem, it’s who we can spread it to. We can be giving it to our parents or grandparents, who are closer or at the age where COVID-19 can be dangerous. Although you do not really hear about it, there are people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s dying from COVID-19.
Is hanging out with your friends really worth the risk? I would love to see my friends, but I do not know if I’m carrying the virus, or if my friends are. I think that it is more important for me to wait it out like everyone else so that we can flatten the curve. As much as we want life to be normal right now, it’s not. People should not be hanging out with each other and people should not be working unless they are essential. We need to make sure that COVID-19 is gone before life can return to anything close to normal. This is going to be a really long process and it may seem like officials are being too cautious, but we need to be safer rather than sorry. People’s health has always and should always come first. Once everyone is healthy, then life can return to normal.
Please, stay safe and stay home.
