Lockdown

I can give you the date: March 11, 2020.

Everything that led up to this moment and the fallout afterward may fall from the world’s memory over time, but I kept a running timeline from pre-2020 to January 2021. I know that one day my grandchildren will ask if any of “that stuff” actually happened so I collected article headlines, news photos, and the abundance of memes that one day won’t make sense out of context.

The world entered absolute chaos the day the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. In November 2019 people were already complaining about a lingering “bad cold” that lasted two weeks or more, centered at first in China; Dr. Li Wenliang from Wuhan sent a video warning all his doctor friends that something bad was coming, and then the Chinese military shut him down.

We did not have the necessary leadership; 45 (he who shall not be named) started dismantling the Affordable Care Act (ACA), disbanding the National Security Council pandemic unit, and reduced the CDC’s budget for epidemic prevention by 80%. Jared Kushner, 45’s son-in-law, advised him that Covid was more a threat to public confidence in the markets than to public health.

Markets. Money. It was always about the money. Four US Senators dumped certain stocks after getting private virus briefings, and one of them bought stock in medical supplies and masks. They knew an incoming wave would affect the bottom line of every corporation out there. Public health was the least of their concerns. By February of 2020, 636 people were dead and 31,161 were infected in China. Since people travel, it was easy for the virus to spread.

Then came the cancellations across the world. Many Chinese people had their doors nailed shut to prevent them from traveling. Mardi Gras in New Orleans was the first domino to fall in the US as the transmission of Covid was related to large gatherings. The first American to die from Covid was on February 29 as the death count continued to leap forward exponentially. Spring Break was cancelled, but that didn’t stop students from going out to party with their friends. On March 11, America was put on lock-down, a term we associated with prisons. Public schools were closed down and virtual learning became the norm. As a teacher, I hated every minute of it.

The fact that we didn’t know much about the virus was the main source of anxiety. Our country split deeper into factions of those who believed there was no such thing as a killer virus, and those who understood science and knew a little something about the 1918 flu epidemic. Then 45 announced the pandemic is temporary and will disappear soon. He refused to be seen in public with a mask, setting a terrible precedent for many, especially those in lower socioeconomic circles who hung on his every word.

Panic buying set in, and all of sudden – toilet paper became the gold standard. Gone also were all the disinfecting supplies, paper towels, laundry soap, and hand sanitizer. Shelves became bare as if a storm were coming. People used Mr. Coffee filters and feminine hygiene products for toilet paper. Stores began to close to the public, followed by restaurants, medical establishments, sports venues, and other spaces that had high volume. Delivery services were born and flourished.

Anxiety levels were off the charts. I know I was terrified to even check my mailbox because I didn’t know if the virus was floating in the air. I didn’t leave the house for at least four months. My husband, a law enforcement officer, had to go work every day. I was terrified he’d come home and spread sickness throughout the house. The lockdown was a source of anxiety that sent shockwaves into the future; the first-graders during lockdown didn’t understand why they couldn’t go to school and see their friends. These students are in middle school now, and the ripples are in the high school and college level. A permanent piece of this generation’s confidence will never return.

More things closed down: Disney, Universal, Busch Gardens, all theme parks-CLOSED INDEFINITELY. As a Floridian, it was dystopian and unprecedented. The parks didn’t even like to close down during hurricanes. When the Pope cancelled Easter, we knew we were in trouble. No more concerts, tours, festivals, mass transit, weddings, family gatherings, proms, graduations, gyms, etc. Entire sports seasons were cancelled. Every state had their own laws regarding the movement and size of gatherings allowed. Cruise ships were left in open water because no countries wanted to take them in; food and supplies were sent out to them. Blue states followed their masking and distance rules while red states were chomping at the bit to retain their freedom.

We were encouraged to disinfect everything and stay isolated at home. Stadiums and empty anchor stores had drive-through testing centers. All non-essential stores and businesses were mandated to close. Of course, gun shows and liquor stores were deemed essential businesses in Florida. Ten million workers filed for unemployment benefits and at the same time lost medical access that ACA would have covered. Healthcare workers became heroes as they were the only ones caring for the very sick.

As the world was on fire and dying, a small group of retirees in Florida wanted to restore “cheer” by putting up Christmas lights. That didn’t help much when loved ones were dying alone in hospitals, and because of social distancing, they weren’t allowed any visitors. The fever and the coughing frightened everyone; a cough could become a death sentence. A defiant woman coughed purposefully on market produce which the store then had to throw away…$35,000 worth of food. These brazen displays were now considered terrorist threats. Home-made masks and other face coverings were hot items on the internet. A macabre yet humorous collection of people online desperate to cover their faces used plastic bags, sponges, snorkeling gear, cardboard, fruit, aluminum foil, plastic 2-liter bottles, a CD, and even a plague doctor mask.

Meanwhile, debates raged over what the proper and safest course would be. Mr. 45 said horse dewormer would work and even suggested that “bleach and other disinfectants kill germs” which led to a dramatic increase of calls to poison control centers. Vaccines were being introduced, yet people were leery of the efficacy. Instead, many spread rumors that the vaccine was developed to kill people (“The Fauci Ouchie”). The amount of misinformation was staggering and continued to divide the world nations into groups of pro-science vs. pro-freedom. As of April 27, 2020, 208,131 people in the world had died, and the US was in first place. This number had doubled from the counts two weeks earlier.

The world was itching to get back to “normal” as morgues ran out of room and graveyards were overflowing with cardboard coffins, some running out of burial spaces. Florida’s governor wanted to reopen the state in phases; tourism is our number one industry, and having everyone in lockdown was costing money. Restaurants were allowed to open at partial capacity, followed by malls and beaches. The numbers of Covid victims continued to increase after this phase because close contact increased contagion and the virus had already started to mutate. By mid-June, nearly half a million people had died miserable and painful deaths from Covid.

Mother Nature was gearing up for summertime with her hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and storms. These natural disasters force people to congregate in shelters allowing the virus more opportunity to spread. The traditional beginning of summer, Memorial Day, had people going out in throngs to party. Social media companies were threatened by 45 for sharing anything related to the pandemic. It was almost as if he wanted people to die. Florida’s governor started to worry about the early hurricanes developing during the pandemic. The hurricane season of 2020 saw storms named with Greek letters because they ran out of names. Worldwide death count at the end of May was 371,006.

I’ve focused directly on the impact of Covid in 2020; there was trouble all over the world at the same time. Wildfires in Australian and the US, murder hornets, olive tree blight, locust swarms, deforestation, floods in Africa, bubonic plague, rioting, wildfires in Chernobyl stirring up radiation, dams flooding, violent protestors, ebola, asteroids – the world was imploding in chaos. Every day the news brought us headlines and articles that wiped out any sense of hope and replaced it with despair. Then election year politics started getting nasty.

The 2020 election will forever be tied to the pandemic; the fight for the White House that year would also be vicious. However, the pandemic wasn’t handled properly, and pockets of disease started spreading again in summer time as travel increased. Vaccinations were available but feared. Many Americans must have forgotten about getting shots as children for protection against mumps, measles, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, rubella, and smallpox. No questions were asked…you just had to produce the blue card with proof of vaccinations to enter school.

And school was about to start up again. After teaching virtually from March to May, educators thought we’d be safer teaching from home. We begged our unions to keep us safe at home, but the state insisted we go back to school. That’s when I wrote my own eulogy so my son or husband wouldn’t have to write one on their own. My. Own. Eulogy. That’s how fearful I was of returning to school with 2,000 other people. One law firm in St. Petersburg offered free wills for teachers going back to school.

However, Florida’s leaders wanted in-school instruction to remain an option. This brought us to the nightmare called hybrid teaching. All modules of instruction were online; students could come to class (staying six feet apart) or learn at home. Any student who came down with Covid was isolated at home for two weeks. Contact tracing was conducted; any student who sat near the infected student in all classes had to quarantine as well; that could be up to 30 kids absent just in case. We had to create accurate seating charts and submit them regularly so the front office could figure out which kids to send home. Parents trying to get back to work had to find sudden daycare. By October 13, the world death count was at 1,090,193.

I had to disinfect my 30 desks after every period. I stayed behind a plastic shield and taught my lessons speaking to the physical class AND the students on Zoom who were supposed to be logged on and watching. The fear of dying permeated students, teachers, and parents alike. We’d been inundated for the last ten months with information and didn’t know what to believe anymore. I retired at the end of that school year. Worldwide, more than 3 million people had died from Covid, and I didn’t want to add to that. I was done.

Now, among other executive orders, 47 wants to repeal directives to help people getting health insurance under the ACA. He also wants to repeal all Biden’s orders and directives related to Covid and pandemic protocols (Covid is still here, but many people have been vaccinated). In addition, he wants to the US to withdraw from the WHO and stop money from going to them. He wants to dissolve FEMA. At first, he favored an anti-vaxxer to head the department of Health and Human Services, but he has temporarily installed an actual physician to that position. Looking at his list of potential appointees among his cabinet and other departments, the possibility of another botched health crisis has increased because he didn’t learn anything from the Covid years. Looking back through the last five years, the day the pandemic was officially declared forever changed our lives.

[The song "All Together Now" by OK Go - an anthem for 2020]