I don't know how anybody else is feeling, but since the onset of this pandemic, the resulting stay-at-home orders and being quarantined, I have experienced a wave of different emotions. At first, like a lot of people, I thought it was going to be the same as other illnesses that the media covered. Ebola, swine flu, bird flu, mad-cow disease, anthrax, saars, zika. Those illnesses were in the media for a while and then the news and everyone else just stopped talking about it. So I was going along about my business, not really paying it any mind at first because I thought it was going to be the same routine. Then came all the conspiracy theories and photos of Lysol cans with the coronavirus included in the list of viruses that the product prevents/kills. So surely this can't be a new virus if Lysol had already stated that their product kills it. So at first, I considered that there was trickery afoot on the part of the government and possibly, the pharmaceutical companies. So I was just waiting for everybody to shut up about it so we can get on with our lives Then I was more cases of people becoming ill and dying, then the reports of celebrities testing positive for it. Then the talk of school closings. I went home on a Friday and my coworker. calls me the following Sunday evening saying the schools in our district will be closed starting the next day. Woah, wait a minute. This is worse than I thought. At this point, my mom, a nurse in Bermuda, is becoming more worried about me.
So when the push for quarantines comes, I'm at the point where I am even more vigilant about sanitizing everything and boosting my immune system in order to fight off anything. I wasn't panicking but definitely taking this seriously and implementing preventative measures. For the most part that was my focus, staying safe, sanitizing, and avoiding social events. Governor Kay Ivey issues a statewide stay-at-home order for Alabama on April 3rd starting at 5pm. So I dash out, get groceries and come back home. I spend my days exercising, reading, watching movies, organizing one of my spare bedrooms, and a little online shopping (just a little bit).
Then one day, I feel different. Totally overwhelmed by watching the news and seeing the panic-posts that appear on Facebook. People buying up all the toilet paper and Lysol (thank God, I already had 3 cans under my sink). There was a local incident where a woman got robbed at gunpoint in a Walmart parking lot for her toilet paper. This is madness. So on this day, a friend from Bermuda does a Facebook Live event encouraging everyone to share how they are doing in the midst of all of this. I share that:
"I am living in Alabama and my mom is working at King Edward Hospital in Bermuda. I pray every day that she is following all safety precautions. Since we can't get to each other, we video chat every day."
After writing this, I just breakdown and cry. I was fine physically, but I'm not in this world alone and all of this had become mentally and emotionally exhausting. People in my community were and still are suffering and at that moment I felt really helpless.
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I'm still trying to take each day as it comes and be as safe as possible. I don't go out unless I really have to, but I make sure I have a mask, hand sanitizer, a can of Lysol, and gloves but not going around touching everything wearing the same pair. That is so stupid, I can't believe people are doing that. Can we say, cross-contamination people??!!!! Anyway, I feel absolutely terrible for everyone who has lost loved ones to this illness and I am hoping that we can get this under control soon.
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