COVID-19

So... A worldwide pandemic is kind of happening right now..... and..... I don't know what to do, how to feel or what to think. This is all just insane to me honestly. I never thought I would experience such a thing in my lifetime. As of now, COVID-19, known as Coronavirus, has infected more than 167,342 people with 6,455 deaths. The United States have stopped travel to and from Europe, Italy is on lockdown, our schools have closed, and the economy is plummeting.  It has been the only thing I hear about in the media for the past week, and it only seems to get worse. The whole world is in a state of panic.

Tonight I went to see a few local bands at this really cute coffee house with some Ana and some friends. I had a really good time during the show, but I couldn't help but be paranoid about the people around me. "What if they have the virus?" I would think. "What if I have it and I don't even know and I'm infecting everyone around me?".

After the show we went to a diner, and we couldn't help but talk about what is going on. We didn't know whether we as a society were overreacting or if this is something that is actually going to impact us hard. We talked about how we had never been germ freaks before, but now we can't help but turn our menus with napkins instead of using direct contact.

In the car Ana and I talked about all of it even more. It was so weird to see all the streets empty. We felt like none of this was real, like all of this is just a fever dream. Everything was normal just a week earlier. We are sad that it is likely that class of 2020 won't get the last good months of high school like everyone does: prom, graduation, after parties, etc.

Personally, I am just distraught by the effects of this virus on society. All of society is putting a pause to everything. The daily routine for everyone is to a stop. Something that has never happened before (at least in my lifetime). For some there's no work, for most no school.... The only thing to do is just stay home and be with your family. It's the fact that all of society can be stopped if it wanted to just proves the fact that it is all a social construct.


Politically, this virus is showing all of the flaws in our society, especially the United States. The team of pandemic responders that were hired by Obama were fired by Trump. Many people still have to currently go to work or else they won't get paid and they are risking themselves of being infected (including me), and what about the fact that no hospitals even have any tests for the virus!!! We are also in the middle of an election. Everything is just chaotic... I honestly feel like I'm in a movie and nothing is real. I was talking with Ana about all of this and it's all just crazy.

My classmates and I don't even know how we are supposed to film our short films anymore because many of our actors are not allowed to leave the house, and many of us were also planning on shooting at school. Not to mention lots of us were going to rent equipment but the place closed due to all of this.

Man....

Hopefully everything goes back to normal... Just a week ago everything was fine.