When the pandemic started, I think most of us thought that maybe it would take a month or two but that it would be under control quickly. Yes, it was a lot of unknown stuff, but we were being told things to help us try to not get sick. I know that there was confusion at the beginning about if you should wear a mask or not and if this was airborne or on surfaces, but a lot of information hasn’t changed. Yet, here we are, almost 7 months later. And at least in some parts of the country, things have been shut down for that entire time.
I don’t know why this pandemic became a political point. Maybe the president thought it would blow over enough and he wouldn’t have to take a lot of action. Maybe that’s why he was telling people to not worry. I don’t know what he was thinking and I don’t need to know. All I know is that it has become so political and polarized if you believe things are bad or not. And I honestly don’t get it.
There’s no denying in my opinion that there is a pandemic that has killed more people than the standard flu or cold. Over 200,000 people have died. I have not known anyone personally who has died, but I have so many friends who have lost someone. They have lost parents, spouses, kids, family, and co-workers. I have known so many people who have gotten sick and recovered. Some of those people were getting very sick and I worried they wouldn’t make it. Many of them are still dealing with health issues. And we have no clue what the long-term effects will be if you had this at one point or not, even if you had no major symptoms.
What we are being asked to do is to wear a mask when you go out, stay at least 6 feet away from others, and stay home if you don’t have to go out. That’s not a lot. And yes, it is hard to stay home and the boredom and isolation are real. I’m experiencing that so much.
But boredom and isolation are so much better than being sick. My friends who have been sick have shared stories about how they felt. Some of them thought they were dying. Some of them felt like they couldn’t breathe and wondered if they were about to end up on a ventilator. The pain in their bodies that some of them described is worse than anything I have ever experienced, even on my worst pain days. I wouldn’t wish this disease on anyone as it sounds truly horrendous and scary.
And I know the president just said how this was not that bad and we shouldn’t let our lives be taken over by the pandemic. But we don’t know if he’s completely healthy yet. I don’t believe if they have said he has tested negative yet. But keep in mind that the treatment he got was very different from what anyone else can get. He has a full medical staff in his home that monitored him before he went to the hospital. He was taken to the hospital in a helicopter. He was in the hospital for observation and not because he was seriously ill. He was given medications that no other person has gotten for this disease. When he went home, he still has a full medical staff taking care of him. And for all this treatment, he will have no medical bills. That’s not anything that anyone else could have.
I’ve seen so many stories of people who were very ill and turned away from the hospital because they didn’t need to be on a ventilator. There was just no room in the hospital for them or the medical team wanted to only have the sickest people there. They had to go home and either be alone or be with people in their homes who didn’t have medical training and were also terrified of getting sick since they didn’t have the PPE needed to be safe. And even if they were in the hospital, the medications and treatments the president got are not available at all hospitals. Some have said they would have no way to give a patient those medications because they were not available to them. So even if everything the president is saying is true and that this was something very easy for him to recover from, unless you have the same privileges that he has you might have a harder time getting over this.
I wish the president would have said something about how he feels very lucky that he had an easy recovery but he understands that is not the case for everyone. I wish he acknowledged how many people have died because they were sicker than he was or didn’t have the same medical advantages as he did. He seemed to feel like this is nothing and nobody should worry. But from my friends who have had this or have lost someone because of this disease, I know that we should be careful and worried that we might get sick.
Wearing a mask is not a sign you vote for one political party or another. It is a sign that you understand that there is a pandemic and that a mask can protect you and others. You might be asymptomatic and not know you are getting others sick. Or someone else might not know they have it and the mask will protect you. Understanding why some businesses can’t open just yet isn’t saying anything more than that you know that they cannot open and keep their customers and staff healthy and protected. I’m just as frustrated as anyone that things are closed. But I also know that we have ways of slowing down this disease so they can reopen. And all it takes is to wear a mask and stay home when you can.
It’s frustrating to see that the people who are protesting for things to open are the ones who won’t do what it takes to make it happen. But I will still do what I need to do in order to stay healthy and try to slow the spread. And hopefully, others will stop acting like a mask is a political button and will do the same so we can get this under control.
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