ALEXSHZRD

 If it weren’t for the wonders of modern medicine and the diligent care from many people, I would be dead. Doctors and nurses and other hospital workers are nothing short of heroes, especially in our current situation. Healthcare workers around the world are working around the clock during this pandemic in efforts to save as many lives as they can. I truly feel bad for them, especially in the U.S. While they are working round the clock, a good amount of our population seems to not realize the severity and seriousness of this pandemic. We have people partying on the beach, having “Coronavirus” parties, and failing to do their part by not staying home.

What first needs to be done is to get the facts to the American public. The only people who should be conducting press conferences on the state of the pandemic are doctors and scientists, not political officials. We have to make sure people fully understand what is going on.

As hospitals are getting more and more busy with more and more cases of Coronavirus, we also have to remember that people are not going to stop having heart attacks, getting into car accidents, and even suffering from the regular seasonal flu. This to me is where it gets tricky: as more cases stack up over the next couple weeks, and with more health workers getting sick themselves, I feel that it could bring our healthcare system to its breaking point, which is an extremely scary proposition.
I think this starts at the top. While I do believe that actions taken by both the federal government and many state governments have been in good conscience, I think that some of these decisions have been grave mistakes. First off, our total and utter unpreparedness for something like this. First, it was a lack of tests and masks. Now, its ventilators. In order to try and salvage this, there needs to be some sort of definitive action from the White House that doesn’t involve attacking other politicians but instead truly helping the American people.

The continued politicization from both the Democrats and Republicans has only made this situation worse. Trump cutting off communication between Washington State governor and the Coronavirus task force over ideological disagreements is the epitome of stupidity at this point.

This is a time for us to forget about our differences, whether they be politics, race, or creed, and join together as the human race in order to save people from dying. How do we want the history books to remember this?
As a huge shitshow, or one where we had direction and leadership? It’s up to us.

While I don’t think this virus is going to destroy our country or anything super drastic like that, I do think that there is a less positive outlook than there was just a week ago. With the social distancing order extended now until the end of April, and with projections saying that our toughest days are ahead, it will assuredly be a trying time for all of us.

Before I’m done, there’s another big idea that I’ve been thinking about a lot during this quarantine, and this is my positive spin on the page this week. We have been blessed with an abundance of time in a world where we often struggle with feeling like there isn’t enough time.

Reach out to your family, your friends; reach out to those who you care most about. 
Have you always wanted to start reading or start painting or start recording music or start getting into baking? Well, you now have all the time in the world.
Nowhere to go, nowhere to be.
Yes, people are working and going to school remotely, but if we are doing what we are supposed to and staying in our homes, we also will have a lot of free time that we can use to pick up some of these activities or hobbies. So, go try something new!