The world completely stopped when COVID-19 broke loose. COVID-19 known as the “coronavirus.” The coronavirus has affected over thousands of people in the world; however, in my hometown, Johnstown, PA, the first case broke yesterday.
The corner of Franklin and Osborne street, Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, is where the first case is being isolated. (Tribdem.com)
First, I am going to start with some background on Johnstown. According to the U.S Census Bureau, there are exactly 19,447 people in the year of 2018 in Johnstown. Johnstown is a small town built of small businesses. Everyone knows everyone in Johnstown, and their mother said hello too. I had no clue how serious this outbreak was getting until I got the call.
It was sunny day in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I was standing on my hotel balcony thinking, “Wow, I only have two more days in Mexico.” I was about about to go down to the pool with my friends and then saw my Dad calling me. I picked up because I haven’t talked to him in a couple of days. He asked how the weather was, and how I am going to deal with online classes for the next 3 weeks. He built up so much small talk to then drop, “When you get home, you cannot come home, you will be going into quarantine in our new house, by yourself.” I was in shock. I didn’t realize how serious people were taking this. At I was kind of mad, I’ll admit. The house has no kitchen, no laundry machines, and the house is getting redone so there are boxes everywhere. However, I have to do this because if I don’t I could put my step mother’s life in jeopardy. My step mother has a compromise auto immune system and is half scared to death about the pandemic.
Anyways, I get home. I get dropped off at this new house by my roommate. and I see groceries infant of the front door. I grab them and walk in the house with my luggage. I walk back to the room where I am going to sleep and see a bed in the middle of the room and a dresser on the right-hand side and nothing else. “This isn’t going to work,” I thought. I spent 3 hours moving around random furniture in the house to make my room a little roomier.
These last couple of days have been absolutely crazy. I can’t leave my house and even if I wanted to, I don’t have a car. My food has been dropped off at the doorstep every day. I miss my dog. And in all honesty, I just want to hug my Dad. You don’t realize how much it sucks being alone until you have to be alone.
I hate being stuck in this house. But there are two things I learned from being stuck. One: I never want to be alone in my life. I always thought being alone was such a good thing. But until you’re alone for almost two weeks, it kind of sucks. Two: watch the news. I know that’s something I should have known by now because I am a journalism major; however, I barely watched the news when the pandemic broke and from not watching I didn’t realize how serious it is.
If you should take away one thing from this blog, it should be to show love to your loved ones during this time. If you are being self-isolated with your parents give them hug, give your dog a walk, tell your brother or sister you don’t hate them, sit on the phone with your grandparents and tell them you’ll garden with them when this is all over because you never know when your next in-person encounter will be.
Works cited:
Berkey, T. (2020) Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center. [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.tribdem.com/news/update-cambria-county-s-first-coronavirus-patient-in-isolation-at/article_27e8a808-6d22-11ea-8128-a72f273d0e58.html
U.S Census Bureau. (2018, July 1). QuickFacts Johnstown city, Pennsylvania. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/johnstowncitypennsylvania