The Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has affected people of all ages, ranging from infancy to the elderly. The virus does not care about your class, ethnicity, race, or your sexual orientation. It has affected learning, closing preschools, colleges, and everything in between. Online learning has been a solution for some, but others are out for the remainder of the year. It has affected non-essential businesses, holiday and sporting events, access to healthcare, and overall socialization of the public, due to millions of Americans being limited to their homes to “flatten the curve.” This deathly virus has taken a toll on jobs, causing additional stress and financial strain on people from different groups. I chose to interview a teacher, a senior, and a nurse on how COVID-19 has affected their lives emotionally, financially, and socially.

            First, let’s start with the backstory of the Coronavirus. COVID-19 is the first world pandemic since Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, which was at its peak from 2005 to 2012, according to MPHonline,an independent online resource for public health students. The AIDS global pandemic has taken the lives of more than 36 million people from 1981 to 2020. The difference between the AIDS pandemic and COVID-19 is the transmission of the virus. According to HIV.gov, the official page for AIDS and HIV, the disease is contracted from bodily fluids from a person who is HIV positive. It is usually transmitted during unprotected sex, or drug use. 

            COVID-19 is a different case. According to the Coronavirus government website, the virus is spread mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets produced when someone is infected. When an infected individual sneezes or coughs these droplets can land on, or be inhaled, by someone around the infected individual. If proper precautions like face masks, washing your hands, and avoiding public contact aren’t taken (six-feet or more apart), someone can become infected, and it could have a detrimental effect on their health.

            Caitlin Trammell is a third-grade teacher at Northfield Elementary School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Due to COVID-19, she hasn’t taught since March 13thof this year. Their schedule has now changed to an online format, along with homework pick-ups on school grounds. Weekly, Trammell has a meeting with administrators through “Zoom”, where they video chat and discuss upcoming events and changes to the school years schedule. She also meets every week with the children in her class who have internet and computer access with a webcam. Trammell says that 90% of the students in her class have internet and computer access, but unfortunately, the other 10% do not have the same chance to interact with the teacher and other students. The students without internet access have the option to pick up “learning boards” in a bin located at the front entrance outside the elementary school. These are homework packets that relate the outside world to school lessons, with assignments like cooking dinner with family, kicking a ball outside to observe the effect of force, and reading a book. These assignments are optional and non-graded, but it is suggested that each student completes four activities a week so even if they are not learning classroom skills, they can learn life skills. 

            There is a downside to this relaxed learning style. Some students rely on the school system for a meal. The Murfreesboro City School District has a program where it feeds students with a free breakfast, lunch, and snack. Without school, many students could go hungry. The school system created the “Chow Bus.” There are listed locations in the city where the bus will be located throughout the week where students can pick up pre-made meals and snacks. They also offer “weekend backpacks” for the students, available on Friday’s, that contain snacks and games for students to last the entire weekend. 

            Trammell says she has not been affected financially from the pandemic. She receives salary pay, so she is doing less work, and getting paid the same. She says emotionally the experience has not hindered her. She feels she has more time for self-care and her boyfriend. Teaching is a stressful job. This break has caused her to feel less overwhelmed, overworked, and feels we should all embrace the time we have to enjoy the outdoors.

            Trammell also feels this is a positive experience for the kids because they get the chance to spend more time with family than they normally would have. The administration at her school does not think it will push back learning, but will provide the students with more life skills. Unfortunately, some students aren’t in good homes and their only escape was school. They hope that the weekly zoom meetings with students will not only be a social outlet for them, but also make sure the students continue to stay safe.

            The elderly has been impacted heavily with isolation from loved ones, friends, and socialization from others. Sue Griffin has seen the impact first hand. She is a 74-year-old, retired counselor. She has prided herself on being an independent woman over the years since her husband has passed. Now that independence has been stripped from her with the fear of catching the virus in public. Griffin has lung cancer and is a life-long smoker which puts her in the group of the most susceptible and non-survivors to the virus. She now is limited to grocery shopping at the Dollar Store from 8am to 9am for “senior hour.” This limits her to canned goods, frozen dinners, and boxed items. The part she hates the most about the pandemic is having to ask for help from her daughter so she can have vegetables, fruits, and fresh meats to cook with to keep her healthy.

The thing she is worried about the most is her family, and herself, catching the virus. The majority of her family continues to work and grocery shop like nothing has changed in the world, but she is confined to the indoors, clinging to the safety of the walls her home hold. Griffin doesn’t enjoy watching television anymore because when she turns it on all she sees on the news is death tolls and numbers rising from the sickness. 

           Socialization is something Griffin misses. She used to attend a local “Bridge” game for seniors, but numbers dropped for the group at the Senior Citizen Home when COVID-19 began to take effect. She says she talks to her dog now because she lost the chance to communicate with others in person. Griffin has also cancelled her immune therapy treatments used for her cancer over the last two months. The treatment changes the blood cell levels in her body, causing her immune system to weaken even more.

          Ryann Parrish is a registered nurse assigned to the Critical Care Unit at Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She normally takes care of patients who have suffered from heart attacks, strokes, and post- operation, but due to COVID-19, the floor she works on has become an exclusively respiratory floor. She has had an increase in work hours because of the extra need for doctors and nurses. 

          Every employee is required to use personal protective equipment when working in the hospital with patients, but COVID-19 has caused an increased shortage in the PPE available to workers. Parrish says “we would get in trouble in the past for not wearing PPE, or not changing it our frequently enough, but now we cannot get in trouble for it because we’re saving our PPE for COVID patients.” Now the nurses at her hospital have to use the same mask and the same gown all day for every patient, possibly exposing other to the virus. 

          Parrish says in the past few weeks, the COVID patients she has worked with are the sickest she has seen in her career. Emotionally it has affected her in many ways. She is more stressed out because of the lack of PPE in her workplace. She is worried she could catch the virus at any time because she is not protected. She misses spending time with her friends and family, but continues to only go to work and straight back home to prevent others from being exposed to the virus. She never knows if she will bring the virus home on her clothing or if she could have contracted it at the hospital. Parrish finds it most scary that she does not know when the pandemic will end. It is already hard being a nurse and seeing what you see on a daily basis. She feels her life is constantly flooded with images she sees at work and the emotions she feels seeing people so helpless and alone. She encourages the public to continue social distancing and continue proper procedures like washing their hands, covering their mouths, and staying home.

          In conclusion, COVID-19 has affected many ages from infancy to the elderly. Socialization is very important to being human. We crave interaction whether it’s in group setting, or through phone calls and texts. COVID-19 has also affected our mental state, financial status, and caused healthcare limitations on non-essential procedures. This is a scary time for the most susceptible, but the best we can do is take government suggestions seriously, and try our best to stay safe.