This pandemic has not only hurt us in the United States but most of the world, especially places like China, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, France and Iran. In truth this is a global experience. We keep hearing about how so many people are getting laid off and the increasing number of deaths in every country and state that has this disease. Entire communities have basically shut down because of COVID-19.
The impact the disease has had on society is huge. Schools have been shut down and many people have either lost their jobs or have been unable to work. Sports and other activities are on indefinite hiatus. It is almost as if life, as we know it, has stopped, and we’re all just waiting for it to start again. But there are some effects stemming from this lockdown that isn’t completely negative. Families are able to spend more time together and many people are turning their attention to the outdoors for entertainment. Spending more time outside and with family is good for lots of people. Grocery stores have been rummaged through by the panic following the COVID-19 shutdown.
Most stores are running low on food necessities and other essentials that are being bought out completely. Shelves are empty of items like flour, sugar, and, of course, toilet paper. Sanitizers and masks are being sold from all corners of the market - often for ridiculously inflated prices. Two brothers from Tennessee began stockpiling sanitizers on March 1. They started by cleaning out a Dollar Tree, then a Walmart, a Staples and a Home Depot of sanitizers in Chattanooga, Tennessee. One brother headed into Kansas to continue raiding stores while the other waited for even more sanitizers and hand wipes ordered online and started to list their stores on Amazon. Their prices ranged from $8 to $70. To the brothers, it was just easy money. To the buyers, it was preparation for the pandemic. What these brothers did was illegal; it is called price gouging and so they were arrested.
As of April 20th, COVID-19 has reached Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia, Europe, Western Pacific, South, and North America. COVID-19 has reached every state in the U.S. now and its numbers are increasing. Worldwide we have had 2,171,554 confirmed cases, 144,858 deaths, and 546,272 people have recovered throughout the world. I understand that people look at these numbers and are thinking this might be the end of time. But when we look at the world population, we are at 7,577,130,400 people and there are 2,171,554+ confirmed, that is a lot but it’s less than a quarter of our world population.
Through family connections and other relationships, we reached out to people from all over the world to share a bit of their experience with answers to these questions:
Where are they from?
What is their occupation(s)?
And how this transition has affected them physically and financially?
Here are their responses:
1. Name: Claire Louise Bird Location: Manchester, UK Situation: Her nine-year-old daughter is home from school until September and has started a YouTube channel due to her boredom.
2. Name: Anne Kemp Stewart Location: Bonanza, Oregon Situation: she said that her daily life hasn’t changed much so far. She’s a little more stocked up on canned food than normal and she and her mother, who has Alzheimer’s, aren’t able to go for their weekly shopping trip and their lunch dates. She also had to cancel their fishing trip due to the fact that campgrounds are closed.
3. Name: Sara Martin Location: Coalinga, California Situation: She was a working mom of four kids. All four kids’ schools got shut down. Sara isn’t going be able to get her AA college degree and her scholarship to further her education because it was postponed
4. Name: Emily Hayes Location: Kent, Washington Situation: Both she and her husband are unable to work from home and don’t have a known return date. They have to wait 6-8 weeks for unemployment due to high demands and they have no idea how they are going to survive the next few months.
5. Name: Kahlee Snyder Location: Mesa, Arizona Situation: Kahlee has had to homeschool one of her kids and is a stay-at-home mom with her other little one.
6. Name: Megan Kane Location: Arkansas Situation: Megan is a doula and she lost her clients for the month of April and so on. This and morning shifts at a daycare that ended up closing were her family's main source income
7. Name: Ashley Silverling-Swafford Location: Plant City, Florida Situation: Her son is doing virtual school and he was supposed to start back on April 15th but that has been pushed back.
8. Name: Wendy Barham Banner Location: Raleigh, North Carolina Situation: She said that she is a lot more stressed out and anxious. She was already stressed due to the fact that her husband unemployed for the last seven months and now since this outbreak, he hasn’t had any further luck.
9. Name: Kristi Churchman Location: Minden, Nevada Situation: She was supposed to go to her daughter’s baby shower back in February that had to be canceled. On April 12th, her grandson, Greyson, was born. Despite new parents and their newborns having to be separated after birth, Greyson’s parents and grandparents got to be in the room with him.
10. Name: Katrina Cummins Location: Utah Situation: Schools there are “soft” closed which means that they are doing school at home but the school is still receiving funding. There have been food and supply shortages and the governor closed the churches due to there being over 10 people.
11. Name: Rebecca Evans-Arnold Location: Michigan Situation: She is a mother of four kids who can’t work on schoolwork at home because of certain state laws.