Every day you see another story. Covid 19 reaches the most cases. Covid 19 strikes again. For about 11 months, we have been seeing nothing but stories about Covid and potential presidents on the news in America. I can’t speak for everyone that has dealt with Covid but I thought I would say how I feel about what's been happening.
About 6 weeks ago I was diagnosed with Covid19. This was a shock to me as my symptoms were mild, sinus infection like issues. I have two jobs, a church, and many places I go to write and read. It’s impossible to figure out where I might have contracted Covid. I honestly thought I caught it back in December of 2019. I was extremely sick and had to take off work. They were not doing Covid tests back then. I was diagnosed with a sinus infection back then, as I generally have those symptoms a lot. For this Covid19 I didn't have a lot of the basic symptoms. Lost of taste, fever, headaches, or shortness of breath. I never felt any of those symptoms.
Getting Covid is not a big deal for most people like me. It didn’t affect my health more than any other type of sickness I’ve ever had. The problem is other people are getting Covid and they can possibly die. My personal feelings are that we should do everything we can to protect every single person. Every life is important. Every person is worth saving. I never worried about getting Covid because I knew I wouldn’t be hurt by it. I tried my best to not get Covid because I didn’t want to pass it on to my family and friends.
The problem with getting Covid is not getting Covid. It's the precautionary measures you have to take. I had two weeks of not earning money because of covid. Also two weeks (10 days officially from the first day of symptoms) of no contact with friends or family. I am a very introverted person but when you are forced to ignore people it feels different. Being introverted is the choice of avoiding people. Covid made it mandatory and I didn’t like it. Although I thought it wouldn’t bother me I got really tired of being confined to my room. There was not enough Netflix to fill the hours. There were not enough video games to get me through 12 hours of nothing.
Staying in one room for two weeks was a culture shock to me. I didn’t even go to the park. It’s not that I couldn’t I just wanted to make sure I did my part to keep everyone I knew safe. There are two lines of thinking on this issue of safety. Many people believe there is nothing to keep safe from because most people with Covid survive. However, I have always believed if one person can die from anything then I have to do my best to make sure I don’t cause the spread of it. It’s the same thing with nut allergies. Some people don't get affected at all and other kids are severely affected by this. So most companies have changed their standards to inform customers of products with nuts.
I believe that's the way we have to look at it. Covid is not bad for most people but some people are extremely allergic to it and can die. The reason some people disagree is that this economic pressure is unneeded. It is causing pressure on places where there doesn’t need to be any pressure. In their eyes, we are hurting millions of people to protect maybe 100 people. It's a valid argument about the imbalance of government oversight. One I don’t share but I understand. In my opinion, death is the only thing we can’t recover from. Money problems can be worked on. Employment problems can be readjusted over time. Death is final. Everyone is fine with death unless it's their own death.
I use Jesus’s teachings to decide how I treat this situation. Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself. I would want someone to wear a mask if I knew it would keep me alive from the virus. So I do that for others. Unfortunately, this Covid problem is bigger than just the financial impact and people passing away. Another issue with this is doctors don't have any answers. When I was diagnosed with the virus I got nothing for treatment. No advice, no answers, no ideas about how to handle any issues. Stay away from people while you have symptoms and at least 10 days from the first day you had symptoms. No medication recommendations. For the American health care system, this doesn’t sync well. America runs on drugs.
We have more health problems than health plans to cover us. Health is a cash crop that will never stop. When I went to the doctor I jokingly asked them if they were going to change their name to Covid care. She joked with me that it was a lot of testing but they were getting back to normal sickness requests. People still had regular problems and needs but Covid pushed them away some. The thing that's interesting is no one knows any end in sight for this pandemic. However close we are to a remedy the impact of Covid will be felt for years to come.
By far the saddest part of Covid is the loss of life. I had a dear friend and mother-like figure from my church who passed away. She had some complications due to Covid. This is the part that makes me angry. If not for Covid she would still be alive or at least in the hospital for other complications. The world keeps spinning but in the back of my mind, I’m always aware that she is gone. She didn’t have to die. Many people don’t have to die. But this is America, land of the free from the face mask and home of the none hand washers. It’s tragic that a pandemic can’t change our culture but some people don’t like change. They believe change will hurt them. I’m sure we will get over this hump as nothing lasts forever but I can’t forget this impact. My friend died. I don’t think I ever told her how much she meant to me. So I’m telling you now with another Covid story. I loved my friend. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those that are affected.
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