The novel COVID-19 virus that started in Wuhan, China made its journey to the United States of America at the beginning of the year and wreaked havoc on every family’s normal life. The department stores, including Costco, Walmart, and Target, were suddenly crowded with customers buying toilet paper, paper products, perishable foods, hand sanitizer, and bottled water. Imagine hurricane season shopping, but quadruple the amount of people. I would like people reading this to not hoard because it’s disrespectful to reduce supplies for those who have big families or facilities such as nursing homes and inpatient treatment centers. This virus took a toll not only financially, but it took a personal toll with added stress on thousands of individuals. Personally, I was supposed to attend three conferences in March; one in Texas, one in Los Angeles, and one in San Diego. Due to the underlying circumstances, I understood about the safety and traveling precautions that were set in place, but I still felt sad, disappointed, and confused. It took me a couple of days to feel better and move forward with life. In addition to my trip being cancelled, high school proms/graduations and college graduations were cancelled, there were limited places to hang out with friends and family, and stores at the malls all closed. They even closed recreational parks and beaches (except for exercise) and restricted travel options. These are the results of the coronavirus spreading quickly with a lack of testing available to contain it.
These are some helpful ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19:
- Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. Sing the ‘’Happy Birthday Song’’ two times.
- Don’t have any gatherings in a public area or inside your home
- Stay inside your home. Practice Social Distancing
- Disinfect any surfaces that are being touched
- Cough or sneeze into your shirt or in your arm
- Don’t travel to any infected country until it is deemed to be safe.
- If you are planning to get take-out, make sure you call about their rules of receiving food and have one person go pick it up instead of the whole family. DoorDash or GrubHub is also another great option.
- If you need groceries, the best option is to order your groceries to your door, if possible.
- Stay away from the ederly and those with compromised health systems
- Wear a facemask while in public and stay six feet away from the next person.
These are some of the fun social distancing activities that you can do inside or outside:
- Read a book
- Do a puzzle
- Watch a netflix movie
- Bake or cook something new
- Take a 30 minute walk in your neighborhood
- Play baseball
- Ride a bicycle
- Paint or Draw
- Learn how to do Tik-Tok or facetime with your friends or family
- Play Video Games
Despite the chaos and tragedy covid has brought, there is a positive side to the recent changes, which is that many of us have had the opportunity to be closer to our families due to the flexibility of our open schedules. At the same time, I think everyone is ready to get back to the life we are used to, or at least a version of that life. Hopefully the virus will leave and allow us to start rebuilding our economy and our lives by the end of the year. Maui has recently started to slowly open back up, despite the stay-home order in place until the end of May. As a reminder, when we are stressed or getting on each other’s nerves, it is helpful to remember the word “gratitude”. As one community, we can show the aloha spirit in many ways. Be safe and well out there.
