COVID-19's Anniversary

Mid-March marks the anniversary of when COVID-19 was on everyone’s radar. Although the World Health Organization was first notified of the virus on December 31, 2019, it was declared a global pandemic on March 11th, 2020. 

Many people regard Friday, March 13th, 2020 as the day where COVID really started affecting peoples’ daily lives because this was the last day of in-person school for many students across the country. Harborfields also had their last day of in-person school pre-COVID on March 13th. Sophomore Libby Kelly described the last day of school as having so many unknowns. “We joked about not coming back until September and thought we would be right back in the classroom on Monday, but it ended up being something we couldn't even imagine at the time.” Many students were thinking this way, that COVID would cause a one or two week break, however, the “break” continued to be extended further and further until schools were eventually closed for the year. Virtual school was very different in the early days of quarantine than it is now. Synchronous instruction was rare if it happened at all, and students learned little to nothing new because of the lack of structure or motivation.
Not only were schools closed down, but everything was closed down. All non-essential businesses, including restaurants, offices, and more, were shut down to contain the virus and hopefully “flatten the curve.” Governor Andrew Cuomo officially signed the “New York State on PAUSE” executive order on March 20, 2020. According to the governor’s official website, the order included “a new directive that all non-essential businesses statewide must close in-office personnel functions effective at 8PM on Sunday, March 22, and temporarily bans all non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size for any reason.” With this order, everything shut down, people started staying home, and the effects of the pandemic began to be felt. During the early pandemic days, there was a shortage of personal protective equipment like masks and gloves, making staying home extra important. Additionally, people were panic shopping, causing shortages of everyday items like hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, and even toilet paper!

Because everyone was staying home and everything was closing down, all different types of industries were closed off or extremely restricted. No matter what you were interested in, it was being impacted by the virus. Sports were fully shut down and on hiatus by March 13th. According to the Washington Post, “The delays and hiatuses range, at least for now, from two weeks to…forever. Nothing in the nation’s recent history, not even 9/11, had brought about such a long and thorough stoppage of play.” Americans love their sports, so cancelling them so suddenly and for unknown amounts of time is a big deal for fans, who are used to having sports to watch all the time. According to Playbill, Broadway theaters went dark beginning at 5 pm on March 12th. Originally, it was only supposed to be dark for one month and reopen on April 13th, however Broadway is still fully closed to the present date. Many shows have been closed during this hiatus, including Beetlejuice, Frozen, and Mean Girls, all very popular shows before the pandemic hit. 

Although it was hard to transition to a pandemic world, we are now figuring out ways to get back to some sense of normalcy. Schools have been running hybrid models for the 2020/21 school year, and now Harborfields is even going to transition back to in-person instruction five days a week for all grades in the month of April. Masks and other PPE are now much more accessible making it easier than ever to stay safe and still try to return to normal. Sports have been modified to be safer while still providing Americans with entertainment. Sports have changed divisions to limit contact with other teams and travel, shortened or modified seasons, and taken safety precautions if anyone involved tests positive for the virus. Although Broadway is still closed, several shows, including Hamilton, Into the Woods, and Newsies, can be streamed online on various platforms. This past year has been crazy and filled with so many changes to our lives, but as we pass the one year milestone of the pandemic, even more changes are coming to bring Americans back to the new normal, while still staying safe.