Malcolm Brey Bay
The world is struggling with an invisible, deadly enemy that is currently spreading among the global population at a rapid pace. COVID-19 (coronavirus) is a disease that shows similarities to the common cold but leads to more severe respiratory problems. To help stop the widespread, the government is advising everyone to stay home but it’s not that easy. People are still going out every day to shop for the necessities they need. This crisis is not only affecting the health of the nation, but it is taking a huge toll on everyone’s day to day lives.
As the coronavirus continues to spread, an anxiety pandemic started to rise. People rushed to stores to empty the shelves of alcohol products and toilet paper. There is a Key Food near Springfield Blvd. and Hillside Ave. that has a line to get in. The line is to limit the amount of people in the store and reduce the amount of contact between people. While waiting on the line you must stand six feet away from each other. While on long lines heard someone cough once and they got scared right away. The fact that COVID-19 is online everywhere people think that if you hear someone cough, they have COVID-19. A parent in Jamaica, Queens, hates leaving the house and every time someone leaves and comes back, she must spray the house down. This virus has people going crazy and paranoid which is something that doesn’t help with the health of the people.
Most students aren’t used to doing online classes and it’s making people a little comfortable with doing work. A student from Queens College told me that his professor “wants everyone to get an A this semesterâ€. So, they aren’t doing any web cam classes and his professor posts his assignments online and he can hand in the work whenever he wants to. Students won’t try as hard knowing that they can get an easy A because their professor is giving it to them. There are other people who aren’t tech savvy and don’t know how to hand in work or how to move around the internet; like kids in elementary school. My friend’s God brother is taking online classes and he completes all his work, but his dad has a hard time submitting the work. This is causing him to get low scores on assignments even though he is getting it done on time. Penalizing students for not knowing their way around the website is costing students points and could potentially prohibit them from graduating.
COVID-19 didn’t just affect people’s education but it also took jobs from people leaving them sitting ducks at home. Quiara, an employee at Bed, Bath and Beyond, says that “it’s bad she got laid off when she did because she has bills to payâ€. People aren’t happy with the stop of income because they have bills to pay and people in the neighborhood aren’t certain that their job is secured.
With this virus, society doesn’t know how long it will take for things to go back to normal. Especially when they go back to work and getting close to other people. Many people just want this to go back to normal so they can get out the house and go back to work. With the internet feeding into people’s anxiety it makes it hard for the United Sxtates to go back to normal until they find a cure. So, what people can do for now is just say home and keep their distance.
