What to do when the pandemic hits you on both ends?

    Imagine being in the midst of a pandemic in college and having your family get sick as well as your roommate? What would you do? Where would you go? Unfortunately a similar case happened to me a couple of weeks ago. 

    With covid cases slowing down a bit on campus, I started to feel a little more at ease (always following precautions and guidelines of course) roaming around campus. One weekend, while visiting home, I got a message from my roommate telling me that she had been exposed to someone who had Covid-19 and was going to get tested the next day, as well as self-quarantine. I was starting to get a little worried, not for myself but for my family in particular. I would despise myself if I ever gave it to them! While I wasn't in direct contact with anyone who had the coronavirus, knowing that my roommate was, made me a little worried. The very same weekend I went to visit my family, I noticed that a couple of them started coughing, saying that their throats were sore, and feeling very tired. Immediately without thinking about all the million other illnesses they could have, my mind went instantly to covid. Did I give it to them? Do I have the Covid? Did my roommate give it to me? If my family has covid and my roommate has it, where am I supposed to quarantine? So many things were running through my mind. I was overwhelmed and could not keep my mind clear. Thankfully, I got news soon that neither my roommate nor my family tested positive for the coronavirus. I was able to return to school and was very thankful to be that fortunate. It's crazy how even the thought of getting the coronavirus can be so scary!

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Has It Made It's Way To My Floor?   

     Everyday that passes by it's hard not to wonder if you will get the coronavirus. It seems like everyday you hear of somebody that sadly gets the virus. Coming to college I was a little worried knowing that I was going to be around a lot more people than I had been around since the pandemic began. 

    I moved in about a little in about five weeks ago. Since I lived quite near the university and there wasn't much going on at campus yet, I decided to go back home for a couple days. Moving in eased my anxiety about being around so many people up until I received a text message from our dorm's group chat saying that someone from our dorm got the virus. I can remember laying on my bed at home that night, watching my phone get bombarded with text messages. Many people were getting pretty nervous, while others were trying to tell everyone to stay calm. Personally, I wasn't worried because the student had not even arrived on campus yet. 

 

    After staying home for a bit I went back to college. During move-in week, I was already hearing chit chat about parties. While many thought it would be fun, others, including myself, tried to warn them about bringing the virus not only to campus, but specifically, our dorms. I had a friend who was already being quarantined on campus, and I did not want that to happen to us. Unfortunately, many did not listen and that lead to a problem; someone on my floor got the corona virus. I remember the day I heard that news our floor was overpowered with the smell of lysol. I quickly walked into my room, pinching my nose to avoid the smell. After getting in my room, I was starting to worry not really about myself, but about bringing the virus to my family back home.

    Thankfully, since I've arrived on campus, nothing more/worse has happened to or around me in regards to the covid-19 . However, as a student all you can do is carry on with your daily life while following guidelines, and only hope and pray that you aren't the next to get the virus.   

When the Pandemic Hits You On Both Ends

  Imagine being in the midst of a pandemic in college and having your family get sick as well as your roommate? What would you do? Where would you go? Unfortunately a similar case happened to me a couple of weeks ago. 

    With covid cases slowing down a bit on campus, I started to feel a little more at ease (always following precautions and guidelines of course) roaming around campus. One weekend, while visiting home, I got a message from my roommate telling me that she had been exposed to someone who had Covid-19 and was going to get tested the next day, as well as self-quarantine. I was starting to get a little worried, not for myself but for my family in particular. I would despise myself if I ever gave it to them! While I wasn't in direct contact with anyone who had the coronavirus, knowing that my roommate was, made me a little worried. The very same weekend I went to visit my family, I noticed that a couple of them started coughing, saying that their throats were sore, and feeling very tired. Immediately without thinking about all the million other illnesses they could have, my mind went instantly to covid. Did I give it to them? Do I have the Covid? Did my roommate give it to me? If my family has covid and my roommate has it, where am I supposed to quarantine? So many things were running through my mind. I was overwhelmed and could not keep my mind clear. Thankfully, I got news soon that neither my roommate nor my family tested positive for the coronavirus. I was able to return to school and was very thankful to be that fortunate. It's crazy how even the thought of getting the coronavirus can be so frightening!

If a Chinese Vaccine is the Most Effective

     Who might develop a vaccine first? How may that affect politics? As I have discussed earlier in this lecture, the pandemic and politics have become greatly intertwined. When the pandemic is brought up politics are brought up and vice-versa. Yet, politics may be a way to put an end or at least find a vaccine for the coronavirus. Today, however, I want to focus on the imagining what would happen if a China Covid vaccine proved to be the most effective in the world.

    If China came out with the world's most effective Covid-19 vaccine there would be a change in global politics in various ways. Probably the most obvious is that it would affect the the relationship between the U.S. and China. As is known, right now the relationship between the U.S. and China is not great at the moment, especially since the beginning of this pandemic. If China were to actually come out with an effective vaccine, the United States would have no choice but to give up its pride in order to be able to receive/get the vaccine. The United States would most likely try to form a cooperation/alliance of some sort with China after a vaccine was released. However, would the country of China agree after all the dispute that has gone on between the countries, specifically the accusations about who's fault the pandemic is? Would China even offer it's vaccine to the U.S.? If China had an effective vaccine it would gain great power and leverage over the United States. Whatever happens politically between the U.S. and China (if China was to develop an effective vaccine) would solely depend on who wins the U.S. presidential election occurring right now. With both candidates having different viewpoints on economics, trade, and international alliances, the outcome of how the U.S. reacts to China developing a vaccine would be vastly different.

    China would also benefit immensely if they developed a vaccine against the coronavirus from many other countries. Their influence in Southeast Asia and Africa would only grow more and more. However, many countries (even if the vaccine was approved) would probably still be skeptic because of the recent accusations of hacking information from multiple countries, especially the United States. On the other hand many people may believe that China would have the very best vaccine as they may understand Covid-19 better than most countries because it was the country with the first known case. Some countries may not even get the doses of vaccines they needed, based on whether or not the vaccine is distributed equally.

    I could come up with multiple scenarios of what may occur if China were to develop a vaccine, but one thing that remains constant is the fact that China would gain great political power over many countries even the strongest countries such as Russia and the U.S. How much better would it be if these countries would fairly communicate and work together to develop a vaccine? A vaccine would probably already have been developed! Unfortunately, this is not the case. One nation will develop a vaccine and gain leverage and power over others. Who will this nation be? Only time can tell.