Health
It is a very interesting time to be alive. These pandemics are a once in a century occurrence and while this novel coronavirus is scary, it is very interesting watching the world, governments and the average Joe alike, react to this disease. I will say, I am not personally scared of contracting the virus. As a 20-year-old that does not smoke and is relatively active, I am not at major risk for hospitalization or death. Part of me even wants to contract the virus, if I haven’t already contracted it, just to get it over with. However, my grandparents live down the street and they are 84 and 85 years old. I don’t think I am quite ready to part with them so I am very hesitant to visit and I am certainly not hugging them. I really hope that we can develop a cure or vaccine quickly and I have great confidence we will, especially considering COVID-19 is the focus of the entire world right now.
Humanity
I have very mixed feelings about the way people are reacting to this virus. The first one I will discuss is anger. Stop hoarding, people. Your unwarranted panic is causing people to have un-wiped butts. People are even struggling to find food. My dad runs a primary care clinic that almost had to close because we could not find toilet paper to stock the bathrooms; this is not a lie. Take what you NEED and leave the rest for others. I am also angry about how some have reacted to the news that hydroxychloroquine and/or chloroquine could serve as a possible treatment for COVID-19, according to NPR. This drug is normally used to treat malaria and rheumatoid arthritis. According to NPR, some healthcare workers have been prophylactically prescribing it for themselves and their families/friends. This is proof that its not just the ignorant people that are hoarding essentials. Many people that have RA are not able to fill their (hydroxy)chloroquine prescriptions due to this.
At the same time, I am encouraged that most people are making the best of the current situation. For example, a bunch of my friends and I created our own Zoom meeting just because we had not seen each other in a while. There are also countless funny memes on social media. I particularly enjoy this one:
Education
While I am happy to see more of my family at home, online classes suck overall. I am saving a lot of time by not having to walk from class to class or to get food, but online classes are inevitable going to lessen our quality of learning. UNC implemented this Pass/Fail policy but many of us, especially in MCRO 251 will not be able to utilize it because we are applying to nursing, dental, PA, or medical school which will not accept a “Pass” mark. I have already experienced many online class “fails” such as not being able to access work. In addition, we will not get the hands on experience of lab.
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