We got back inside and I prepared for my day: usually that involves making coffee for my fiance, Ryan and myself before he heads to work and I head to class. I prepare the coffee, then head upstairs to Ryan ironing his dress shirts and me getting together my outfit for the day. But today I prepared the coffee and went upstairs to Ryan working on his computer in our loft, a half-eaten sock from Leanna (that part is pretty common), and me throwing on sweats and a t-shirt for my online student government meeting. The reality of working/learning from home has just begun, and it will definitely take some time to get used to.
I should mention I am in a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program. My classmates and colleagues are all thoughtful and intelligent individuals who share a common goal and desire to help people and make this world a better place to live in. So we completely understand and support the necessity of going into temporary lockdown, taking a hiatus from campus and switching to online learning for the time being. We are very vocal when it comes to the health and wellbeing of others, and we understand the urgency to act immediately to do our part in assisting those that are immunocompromised or elderly. That's why when our university announced last evening (March 12th) that we wouldn't be transitioning to online classes until March 30 and would continue to hold on-campus classes until then, we rioted. Just kidding, not so much rioting as sending heavily worded emails, but you get the point.
So our student government meeting held on Zoom today was centered around this idea of how are we as a cohort going to navigate these necessary changes in the next few weeks. How are we going to still collectively come together and support one another, how are we going to achieve the same comradery that we do in the classroom? How are we going to practice goniometry on each other, or test the strength of each other's biceps brachii through a computer screen? Well, in short, we're not. But rest assured we will all still graduate in 2022 as the best DPTs there ever was. AND we will have had a very unique, if not the most unique experience that any cohort before us has ever had. But we will be better and we will be stronger for it because we understood that putting the wellbeing of others far outweighed the importance of our education. I mean our whole profession is literally based on the principle of putting the wellbeing of others first, so why not start now?
So anyways, we finish up our meeting and Ryan and I decided we should probably make a trip to the grocery store to grab some food and other necessities just to play it safe. We get to the store, we find a parking spot with maybe like more than average trouble, but as we're walking to the door, this man stops us and goes, "Good luck in there, you're going to need it big time. It's insane." And so we're both just like prepared to walk into a scene similar to the one in South Park where everyone is looting the mall on Black Friday. But we walk in, and it's honestly not much worse than what we had expected to walk into: the lines are abnormally long, there is absolutely zero toilet paper left on the shelves, and all of the Ramen is completely gone too. That was all expected.
What I didn't expect was to feel this crippling amount of alarm and anxiety, or this unsettling notion like something I had never experienced before. I'm walking over to the soup aisle that's blocked by a number of shopping carts, and as I'm trying to get through I hear an employee tell another employee, "We can't restock right now because if we do then we won't have enough supplies for tomorrow." I start to understand the severity of the situation, as well as the selfishness of those around me. Like I highly doubt you need 8 packages of ground beef Karen, save some for the rest of us. Also beef isn't a non-perishable item, but I digress. Anyways, I'm standing at the soup shelf, and I start to grab a few cans, but then I look around and see the amount of people huddling around the almost barren shelf and I reconsider my need and put the majority back. I continue to do this for the remainder of our trip: I take only what Ryan and I need and move on. If there are only two left of something, I take one or even consider if I even need one in the first place.
So we make our way to the mile long checkout line, we're trudging our way through crowds of people who are cutting off employees with large carts of restockable items, or people just standing in the middle of the aisle just dumping large quantities of things into their baskets. And you can just feel the panic seeping out of them- they're freaked out at the unknown and uncertainty of the next month. I get it. But then we also see people passing each other saying, "Oh my, excuse me. It's like a war zone in here!" And then the other person goes, "Oh I know right?! It's worse than the holidays HAHA." And I'm enjoying the positive discourse and the short but necessary injection of humor into this is crazy, surreal time. And a lady unknowingly cuts me in line but the lady in front of her politely acknowledges the mistake, and the lady kindly apologizes and gets in line behind me. And I'm thinking, "Okay, humanity is doing all right for the most part. This will be fine." And I'm looking around and I'm seeing, truly seeing all of these strangers around me just trying to do the best they all can. And sure some may be more rude or ignorant than others, but it's so important to remember in times like these that we need to be kind and patient and give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Because everyone will react differently in times like these...
And then I start to think "times like these" and I realize that in my 26 years of living, I have never truly experienced a so called "time like this." I lived through 9/11, but I was 8 and all I remember was that I was pissed that Disney Channel wasn't playing cartoons and instead broadcasting President Bush's address to the nation. I have never experienced the situation I am currently facing ... a situation we are all currently facing together. I start to think of the women in front of me with her 9-month-old baby covered up in his car seat, or the man in the line next to me with the only contents of his basket being Pepsi and multiple packages of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (hell yeah man I see you!). And I guess I just start thinking that I hope everyone else is doing what I'm doing-- taking this all in and really understanding how what we are going to be doing for likely the next month will ultimately benefit not only ourselves but all of these people around us. And I'm hoping that everyone is being mindful and considerate of everyone else, and truly being better about spreading germs because it could save the life of the 9-month infant in line in front of me or the elderly woman in line behind me ... oh wait, the elderly lady just grabbed a magazine and LICKED HER FINGER each time she turned the page. Awesome...
Here is my point: it is imperative that we all do our part in decreasing the rate of spread and "flattening the curve." My neighbor shared this incredible article with me yesterday that illustrates how truly devastating COVID-19 could be for the United States if we do not act immediately (I will link the article below, seriously the most thorough information I have read on the matter. Also note: the article updates daily with newer and more up to date projections taking more recent precautions into account). A model projection in the article outlines what Denver could look like in a week if we all don't start laying low and avoiding social gatherings by illustrating the difference between "official" cases and "true" cases. Official cases are those that have been diagnosed- as of yesterday, there are currently 48 official cases of COVID-19 in the greater Denver area. Now true cases are cases that have not been diagnosed yet due to either the infected individual is not showing severe symptoms or they have not/ are unable to be tested. True cases are projected based on previously calculated models based off what has already happened in, say Wuhan and Italy. So with 48 official cases, the model estimates that there are likely 192 true cases in the greater Denver area. Every infected area that did NOT act immediately to shut cities and areas of high risk down (so like Wuhan in the very beginning before they shut down travel to and from Wuhan) has experienced DAILY exponential growth: so that means that if there were an estimated 192 true cases in the greater Denver area yesterday, there is around 215 true cases today. In one week: this number rises to 1,019.
Now this is all very scary and alarming, I get it. But the model also shows what started happening in areas of China that shut down completely to isolate the virus from further spreading. The exponential growth ceased, and eventually the number of true cases flattened out. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, however, the damage was already done, and COVID-19 was able to spread and turn into a pandemic.
So what does this mean for places like the United States? It means we need to learn from this model and begin to immediately enact lifestyle changes that will slow the spread of infection and flatten the curve. By collectively refraining from attending social gatherings for a few weeks, we will likely cut the incidence of infection rate in half, giving hospitals and health care professionals a fighting chance against this pandemic. It doesn't matter if you yourself are at minimal risk of contracting the disease or experiencing severe symptoms, what should matter is your community: your elderly, your immunocompromised, the individuals who already suffer from respiratory illness. I would venture to guess that every single one of you knows at least one of these individuals, whether they're a family member, a friend, a neighbor, or a coworker. COVID-19 could be devastating to them. The time has come and gone for us to contain the virus: it has spread, and this is truly our last resort.
I wanted to start this blog to not only shed some light on the COVID-19 current situation, but to also provide an avenue for people to come together, share their thoughts and feelings through this situation, and know that they are not feeling these feelings alone. I think that documenting my experiences over this next month or so will be a tremendous coping strategy for me, as I am a very social person who loves to connect with people, but I also hope it can enlighten those of you who choose to read and follow my blog! My goal is to continue to share updates and thoughts as well as some suggestions for fun things to do inside and how to stay busy.
Tomorrow I will wake up, probably find another chewed up sock (what else is new), and begin this new reality. My first plans are to get a head start on my neuroscience studying, and I also want to start playing the piano again. I am taking this opportunity to reconnect with the hobbies I have lost from being too busy with the daily hustle, as well as to spend some quality time with my little fam bam. <3
I ask you all to remember to think of others, be kind to one another, check in on your loved ones through these difficult and truly unprecedented times, and don't be afraid to tell Karen to stop hogging all the beef at the supermarket. In short... DO YOUR PART TO END THIS PANDEMIC! <3
Love to all!!!!
Brittney
PS: here is the link to the article I mentioned above :)
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca
Thanks for reading!!!
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