A viral deathly disease is something we read about in books and watch in Hollywood movies while eating popcorn as it enters a planet and wipes out a huge number of people in it. No one ever thought that one day we will get to experience those very moments we fear in movies play live in our lives.
Coronavirus came into our lives and changed a lot of things in it. We all know what all is happening around us because of this damn virus. How many people are dying and how many are away from their loved ones unable to visit them like they used to. It took away our freedom to live the life we wanted and even the life we were already living.
Let me share with you some basic info about when this damn virus started…even though I am sure you must have heard most of the details.
COVID-19 is a virus that has out-broke to the world becoming the first and foremost tragedy in decades. It first surfaced in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Today, it spread to around 187 countries in the world. It sickened more than 4 million people and around 300,000 people had died around the world in just six months period. On 11 March 2020, this disease was identified as a pandemic because by that time there were around 4 million cases of COVID-19 around the globe.
So what did this virus do to me? How is it that it affected me?
1. Kept my sister away from me
Since many countries band traveling to prevent the spread of COVID-19, my little sister was one of the victims who got stuck in a foreign country away from her family. This situation was more worrying than it was about missing her.
The fact that she is staying away from us in a place where the virus was spreading rapidly was very distressing. It is true that the cases have decreased by now but during the starting of the spread of this virus, the number of cases was increasing expeditiously.
So this made my parents and me panic and worry so much about her. I had to be the strong one among us to show them that everything is going to be fine. I kept reminding them to have faith in God and that she will be fine as long as she is locked up at home.
So how did this happen? Why was she stuck somewhere else?
My sister traveled to Malaysia in February this year to pursue her education and start her degree. By the time she left, coronavirus was known to be a virus spreading around but no one thought it would be a pandemic and cause crisis like it did today. So we thought to send her by depending on God for her safety rather than keep her from going.
At first, most countries evacuated foreigners from their country asking them to return back to their home countries in a specified period of time. For those who were not able to return within the given timeframe, they are stuck in a foreign land (most of them until today) unable to return to their families just like my sister.
When it was announced that there will be three days given to foreigners outside Saudi Arabia to return, her passport was with the Malaysian Immigration in the process of getting her student visa stamp. So when the lock down took place, her process was on hold making it impossible for her to move from her place. By the time her passport was with her, there was no way to travel as no airports are open for flights.
2. Took me away from my students
Well, as you know, I am a teacher who teaches beautiful kids in the school I work in. The bond I have with my students is not just a teacher-student relationship. I consider those 7 to 8 year-old boys like my own kids. They drive me crazy at times (I mean most of the time tbh) but by just giving me one of their pure, innocent smile, it makes me forget everything annoying they did. Ever since this damn virus came into my life, it took them away from me making me unable to see them, joke, and play with them like I used to.
Yes, distance education took place and I taught my kids whatever lessons they learned this semester. I tried my best to make them feel like they are still with me in the class by using my strategies just like I did in our classes. But it still wasn’t enough and made me miss them even more.
The first case in Saudi Arabia was identified on 5th March 2020. Right after this news was announced, all schools in the Kingdom have closed two days after as a precaution to the safety of the children. Since 8th March 2020, I have not seen my students. I was able to contact some of them directly but I miss the times I spent with them in school.
3. The lockdown
For someone who has been locked up in her house for months without being able to look at what the streets looked like, the lock down did not really effect me much. There have been days where I never left my apartment for four or five months in a row. So the government asking me to stay home to stay safe was not a new feeling to me.
However, after I started working, I got used to leaving the house and mingling with my friends and colleagues at work. I got to see them every day and share my good and bad times with them.
As a result, I had a difficult time managing my first week at home because I kept missing them and the time I spent with them. But later as days passed by, it suddenly started to feel like nothing changed from before.
Remote teaching helped me build a routine for myself at first, but later it got boring again.
Was the lock down really effective to people?
Despite knowing the facts about this disease, some citizens around the world are just careless and irresponsible. All they care about is to continue their lives as if nothing is happening around them.
Some are illiterates and those can be excused as they may not really comprehend what is happening and therefore decide to practice their lives normally. On the other hand, people who decide to rebel and “test” themselves are the ones that cause the most harm to society. Because there are a lot of them, the term “Covidiot” was invented to label the stubborn people who ignore the social distancing rules and help with further spreading the virus.
Even with these covidiots around, I still believe that the lock down decreased the number of infections way more than expected. I believe that social distancing is the best prevention measure for stopping the spread of this virus.
4. My health
I am not going to lie, being locked in my house, and staying focused on nothing did make me go through a lot of negative emotions like being stressed, sad, and angry at times. This had an impact on my blood pressure and caused it to mostly be between 125/90 and 135/105.
For this reason, and other reasons too, I started to practice yoga and use my treadmill for walking. I kept looking for ways to stay healthy and busy as much as I can by doing things I like before I start losing my mind in my house.
Yoga is something I tried couple of months ago in my school when my friend’s yoga instructor came and gave us a trial on her yoga lessons.
Ever since that day, I enjoyed yoga so much but never had the time to practice it. I did some silly stretches from time to time but never practiced yoga thoroughly. But now I am watching yoga videos on YouTube and practicing yoga for beginners.
Final Thoughts
To wrap up, coronavirus had its ups and downs with everyone. I am so frustrated about the side effects of the coronavirus in my life, but I am trying my best to look into things positively and try adapting to the situations I, and everyone around the globe, is kept in. I hope everyone tries to do the same to keep their positive spirit and sanity.
I pray that every person who got infected gets cured, every person who died – may his/her soul rest in peace and for people who are away from their families, hope they reunite in peace as soon as possible.
Thank you for reading till the end 🙂
I am sure coronavirus had some affect on you you.
Feel free to share your experience with the pandemic we are facing today with us in the comments below.
REEM SHAMS 