by Kara Machowski
Here we are, just over a month since most states have been placed on lockdown and the virus has spread rampantly throughout the country. One month ago the United States had 43,000 confirmed cases (now 855,000) and just over 550 deaths at the time (now 48,000, a gain of 3,000 in the past 24 hours). For many across the country, we watched in awe as New York battled the virus-like salvaging lives in the infamous terrorist attack, and for most of us, the virus was so far away it seemed surreal. Now the virus is very real for us. From friends who have recovered to family members who are being diagnosed and elder deaths that we’ll never be able to know if they were coronavirus related. Friends who are losing their grandparents and many of us know people working on the frontline, where the battle has spread to our states and we’re no longer watching New York sympathetically, we’re watching our friends and family members and home towns compassionately. This past week my husband lost his grandmother in a nursing home that did have a positive case of coronavirus. We weren’t informed that she had any symptoms, simply that she stopped eating. This could have been a side effect of the virus or it could have been a consequence of an altered schedule as she did suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease. Unfortunately, since she apparently didn’t display any symptoms, we weren’t able to get her tested and we will never know. My cousin’s mother (third cousin but close) is in a nursing home and was just diagnosed. For many, it seemed personal as soon as the warm-hearted actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, were diagnosed with Covid. The actor who nestled into the hearts of all Americans with roles like Sleepless in Seattle, Toy Story, Forrest Gump, and Castaway, everybody across the country ached for his recovery. Then few governors tested positive, our news anchors and the governor of New York’s brother, Chris Cuomo. That’s when the effects of the virus began to feel real, while New Yorkers were beginning to suffer from losses and a steep rise in cases. We began to learn more important facts about the virus, it didn’t only strike the elderly, the highly touted hydroxychloroquine proved to be not only ineffective but could have potentially led to more complications and deaths from those infected with Covid-19. Now we’re finding that those who are in their 30’s and 40’s who contracted the virus are showing signs of blood clots in the lungs, which has led to strokes. The unfortunate truth is that as we continue to open up the country we will see many more deaths and we still don’t have any sort of treatment for the virus, let alone a vaccine. Many cities and states are pushing to reopen, but most aren’t able to provide an ample plan to keep citizens who are returning to work safe or actions to take if there is another outbreak. A Tyson’s chicken factory refused to close doors for a few days after an outbreak in the facility.
What is truly heartbreaking for so many, is that they can't leave the house to make arrangements for loved ones who have passed, both Covid and non-Covid. Funeral homes are refusing bodies and families aren't able to mourn together. Those who have been affected or infected with the virus understand the absolute feeling of helplessness with the battle against the virus, the government, and the Americans who are protesting to return to work. Once again, many Americans are fighting the idea of staying distanced from others stating that the virus 'isn’t that bad,' is a hoax, or that they don’t care about getting infected. But again, it’s not about one single person, it’s about the person sitting opposite from them, it’s about their mother or father, grandmother or grandfather, or their child who has an autoimmune disease. Don’t stay home for you if you’re healthy and unafraid, stay home for the person across from you, for parents and grandparents, for the sick who fight every day just to have a semblance of normal life. Because soon enough, the virus will get personal for everybody.
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