PROJECT: COVID-19
Anna Dai-Liu, Jonah Miller, Hannah Chen, Eleni Beaumont, Sydney Gdanski, Avery Berg
introduction
Anna Dai-Liu
It’s been three months since my first article. Three months.
It simultaneously feels like it hasn’t been that long but also like there’s no way it’s been only three months. I remember it came out the day we began quarantine—there was a bitter irony in that, I thought, writing about China and its hopes of opening as we went home for a long stay with an unpromising end.
Now it’s been three months. I wake up every morning not knowing what day it is. I mix up the weekend and the weekdays. I climb out of my bed at a time at which normally, I would be at school.
What is normal? Will we ever get to go back to normal?
As someone who is a member of this generation of teenagers, I feel an acute awareness of the fact that this, this post-coronavirus world, is going to be what we inherit and is going to be put under our charge to make sure that we carry it out. Whether or not it succeeds now is going to define our future, our college lives, our careers, everything.
So what do teenagers around the world really think?
I voiced this question to my parents one day, and this is what has come out.
I wouldn’t call this an exposé, per se—it’s more like a friendly wake-up call to the other teenagers of the world and to the governments that we live under. All around the world, governments have responded differently to this pandemic, from the “herd immunity” of the United Kingdom to the total lockdowns in China to the relatively loose restrictions in some Scandinavian regions. We at Street View News conducted a little survey last April to see what teenagers think about how the world has dealt with COVID-19, and now we present to you the results, with perspectives from writers from all over the globe, with little bits of my voice popping in every so often to guide you along on this virtual trip around the world at a time where travel may the most dangerous thing one can do.
Our thoughts here may not represent all. These generalizations obviously have exceptions, but we have done our best with both research and what we know of our hometowns to tell you the stories that we think you deserve to hear.
I hope that after reading this, something in your mind changes—hopefully for the good. I hope that we change your mind about something you thought before. Maybe we open your mind to something new. Maybe we can show you opinions you’ve never heard of. Maybe we show you something that is not necessarily good, but convinces you to fight for change.
Without further ado, we begin, at the country where it all began.
china
Anna Dai-Liu
When Wuhan opened up weeks ago, there was promise.
The rest of China was relaxing its regulations; people could start actually going places; workers were returning to their offices and quarantined people could reunite with their families. It was a facsimile, a tempting copy of the normal that most of us remember.
But unfortunately, things have changed, and in China, the situation is not necessarily better than it was before; although there were much fewer deaths, the promise of a second wave of cases now threatens the country. And with a new development, of course, comes a new wave of media in which one can barely distinguish fact from fiction.
“I feel like there is rarely valuable info shared on social media sites,” a student from Beijing tells us. Her view contrasts greatly with the ones I heard previously from the students in Wuhan, who all said they would use social media as a way to fact-check information they received from the government. In contrast, this student says “[t]here is some degree of sensationalism, but at this point it may be beneficial as it conveys the severity of the disease”.
From what I’ve seen, China needs it. There seems to be the common perception that wearing a mask is a fool-all technique—that if you wear a mask, then there’s no need for social distancing anymore. As we know from recent research, however, the mask is not intended to block things from coming in, but rather prevent you from emitting aerosols out—something which I fear many Chinese citizens fail to understand as they pack back into the train stations shoulder to shoulder, unaware of the danger that they put themselves in—but most importantly, the people around them.
transition: china ---> singapore
Anna Dai-Liu
The strict policies enforced by China have come under huge fire, especially from the American public. This is authoritarianism, people say; this is what a dictatorship does. It drags innocent people from their homes to be locked into quarantine and leaves people stranded at home, unable to go anywhere at all if there is only the mere inkling of suspicion that they could be sick.
But the truth lies in the numbers, in the staggering names of the 100000 deaths that now headline the New York Times in contrast to the less than 5000 deaths reported from China; as such, for some countries, mainland China has served as a model, especially in Southeast Asia.
One such country, as correspondent Hannah Chen knows quite well, is Singapore.
singapore
Hannah Chen
Headlines were filled with praises for how the Singapore government was dealing with the coronavirus. Singaporeans, workers, and international students figured what the media was saying was true, especially with the numbers staying so low for so long.
Over a week ago, when my service club was brainstorming ways to stay active while online, one of the officers said: “Well there isn’t much to do in Singapore. They’ve been handling it well.” In February, as I face-timed my friends from New York, they would ask me about how life was here. “Singapore has like no cases! What are you guys doing over there?”
The truth was, the government wasn’t doing much. From late January to mid-March, life was almost normal. The increasing number of Covid-19 cases was scary, but as soon as the wave of panic washed over the entire country and retreated away, people here in Singapore weren’t too worried–we were far away from mass death and spread. The government was dealing with this issue quite quietly and calmly, their only major restriction being a ban against the entrance of Chinese passport holders. Schools were still open; they were only told to prevent large gatherings as much as possible. And people still weren’t hesitant from letting this virus hinder them from having fun.
Talks of the coronavirus occurred often. And little by little, I stopped touching my face by habit, my fingers becoming hyper-aware of everything they felt. I was fortunate enough to have a hold upon sanitizer, so I also began to bring this friend along with me to the outside world. School continued as per normal (except for the often unsurprising yet disappointing cancelation of events); besides the social distancing measures were put into place, the stress of school easily blinded many of us from this growing pandemic across the ocean. The stress around my dad’s eyes became familiar as the economic downfall came crashing upon millions of families, but the reminder that I was in a stable situation was both reassuring and filled with gratitude. Whilst knowing how many other families are suffering the fears of husbands losing jobs, losing savings, losing their loved ones, all I could do was be grateful for the things I have now. And that’s fulfilling enough.
By the time Korea and Italy had a rapid spike in their cases, Singapore’s number seemed like nothing. Because of this, the praises continued upon the government’s way of approaching the spreading of this virus.
“But how is Singapore handling the coronavirus?” my dad asked during dinner one day as shock lay across my face after learning that the government wasn’t really doing much. “What are they doing to prevent the spread of the virus?”
We weren’t required to wear masks, but no one was wearing them anyway. There were new restrictions placed in workplaces and classrooms, but these activities still went on. The Singapore government had given out four masks to households, but this was only for Singapore citizens and permanent residents–as an international family, we were granted no protection.
“Singapore just got lucky,” my dad claimed during dinner. “They just got lucky.” Lucky. An interesting way to describe the reason why Singapore had such a low number of cases. I now think of that to be pretty true.
Then the American cases began to rise, followed by Britain and many other countries in Europe. As people were traveling back to Singapore as the pandemic spread in America and Europe, there was also an increase in foreign brought cases into Singapore. Murmurs over what the Singapore government should do next spread like wildfire. And soon after this race towards a need in a solution, the Singapore prime minister announced the establishment of a “circuit breaker,” which was a form of strict social distancing measures to prevent further spread of COVID-19 until early May; in other words, telling us to quarantine.
This was the first time Singapore had begun to implement stricter laws and requirements upon the citizens living here. There were suddenly consequences for rebelling against these as well: large fines, jail time, deportation. It seemed funny how so many people in Singapore weren’t listening to the dangers of the news until there were stricter laws for everyone to fear. Maybe this is just how Singapore has been meant to run, considering the underlying amount of regulation that occurs here.
Ironically, right after a series of new regulations were put into place, news of hundreds of cases began to flood our ears, and it wasn’t hard to figure out that these increases were coming from the migrant workers here in Singapore. These workers lived in small dorms with several living in a small room, so if one were to catch COVID-19, the virus would spread, hurling the sickness at everyone near it. And it did (and currently is). The Singapore government quickly scrambled to pick up the pieces of their good reputation, and speeches were filled with “We are here to help the workers just like we would for our own Singaporeans” and “We will help them as much as we can.” But until these cases began to blow up, the migrant workers were still in lack of proper sanitary conditions and masks–the government didn’t do anything then. I couldn’t help but question the real trust upon the Singapore government, especially with their mismanagement of the migrant worker’s situation. The government, once again, began to put in new requirements and rules each day, and it was becoming more and more difficult to keep up with the new consequences that followed with each new rule.
“The circuit breaker will continue until the beginning of June,” the prime minister of Singapore announced towards the end of April, right when the circuit breaker was supposed to end. Thousands of sighs could be heard across this tiny country, filled by tired mothers, disappointed seniors, bored students, suffering workers. But what could we expect? We have gone from having no more than a thousand cases to an increasing number over 15,000.
So, for around five weeks, I’ve been stuck at home. And who would’ve thought that one of the most controlling and strictest countries can’t even take charge of the people living here?
transition: singapore ---> new zealand
Anna Dai-Liu
Interestingly enough, although Singapore followed the heavily restrictive measures that China did, in the American media, Singapore was portrayed in a positive light in contrast to China. Singapore’s leaders were hailed in US papers and magazines for tight regulations with respect to the handling of the cruise ships and the like. I remember thinking watching the news, though, and wondering, is it really so pretty, or is it just like China underneath? Hannah told us what she saw and what she thinks; I don’t know what you may be thinking, but all I know is that there is no perfect response.
However, one leader who has been widely praised on a variety of things is New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. This isn’t the first time she’s been taking headlines; after the Christchurch shootings, the rapid response to gun control was touted in American news as an example for change. Recently, there’s been word of New Zealand having virtually no new cases, and hints at reopening.
Incidentally, our next interviewee comes from that same city of Christchurch. Eleni Beaumont, another correspondent of ours, tells us her story.
new zealand
Eleni Beaumont
An isolated island based halfway around the world from where I am writing, New Zealand appears as a beacon of hope to countries looking for a way out of Covid-19. With one of the lowest death rates and highest percentages of recovered cases, I was hugely curious about what a teen from that country would think about the current state of the rest of the globe.
Brooke Kingsby, based in Christchurch, answered the call as she waited in hope to return to normal life. Kingsby was pleased by her country’s immediate response to the pandemic led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. ‘As soon as there was evidence of community transmission we all went into Stage 4 lockdown. We were not allowed to leave our house unless it was for essential travel.’ While this advice is now proven to be imperative to stopping the spread, Kingsby was, at first, and like many others skeptical of the virus and the media’s coverage of the dangers it posed. ‘During the start of the pandemic, we all thought the media was blowing-up Coronavirus more than necessary. However now in lockdown, I’m glad of the source of this essential information.’ Kingsby has reason to be. The way her PM has communicated the problem and the progress the country’s making has, according to observers, given the population in NZ confidence in their leaders and ensured rules are followed even if the information is, as Kingsby puts it, ‘overwhelming’ to the point she fears missing out on other news stories because of the space Covid-19 is demanding. NZ has been the first country to announce they have stopped community transmission, effectively eliminating the virus.
In response to the global perspective Kingsby believes some countries have had advantages over others. “New Zealand was able to observe the situation and make clear plans early on. We are a small population on an isolated island; we do not have the disadvantages of close proximity facing countries in Europe.”
New Zealand is still, as we write, observing social distancing even if they’ve moved out of the toughest level of lockdown, with most people remaining at home. Kingsby, like many others, is trying to keep herself busy. Now on holiday she has been picking up sewing and crafting projects. Her message to others remains the same as echoed around the globe to be safe, and to please “stay at home”.
transition: new zealand ---> uk
Anna Dai-Liu
Response to the New Zealand response has been positive, from many young Americans that I know but also from teenagers in the country, as seen in Brooke’s case. However, in many parts of the Western world, not only in America but in parts of Europe, I’ve heard criticisms of the lack of speed in dealing with the situation. There seemed to be this belief in the government, at least in the US, that it would remain contained in China, that there was no way it would come all the way to us.
Now that we are here, a lot of focus has come to what we can do from home. I’ve seen videos of Italian people clinking glasses across their balconies, I’ve seen Spanish citizens singing in the streets. Little things to appreciate the people who can’t stay home and to stay connected with the people living around you.
Interestingly enough, the first examples of such appreciation that I saw actually were not in American communities; they were videos from the UK, where the medical system is consolidated under the government as the NHS (National Health System). It was there I first saw the rainbows in the windows, and I remember thinking that really, it was not the individuals on the front line that were so different, but the greater system controlling it.
Eleni Beaumont returns to tell us her story, from Cardiff, Wales (and yes, for those of you who may ask, that is part of the UK).
united kingdom - cardiff
Eleni Beaumont
The relatively small island based off Europe’s west coast, Great Britain, has just found out it has the highest death toll in our continent. As a teenager living in Wales’ capital city Cardiff - this leaves me with some questions to ask.
As I write this today, Wales’ first minister (the head of the leading political party within Wales) Mark Drakeford, announces our lockdown will continue for three more weeks. With over 200,000 cases confirmed across the UK and over 31,000 dead, the current measures to keep us safe, while effective, seem to have come too late. What’s more, rumors of the numbers falling and lockdown easing have been heavily spread, leaving critics fearing these figures will go up rather than down in future weeks. On a walk around the public park, a cafe announced it would be opening for takeaways in the next few days. I live beside a main road - and the sounds of cars passing are steadily increasing, when early on it was the sound of ambulances rushing to the city’s hospital that dominated. The spotlight is now on what’s gone wrong, and the question being asked whether our Government is at fault, its tactics at the start of the pandemic fast enough.
I’m more thankful than ever to live in a country that offers me a National Health Service - but doctors and nurses had to go as far as projecting their faces onto the Palace of Westminster in a daytime TV broadcast to grab people’s attention and tell us they are running out of PPE. Reports suggest Prime Minister Boris Johnson didn’t even attend the first COVID-19 meeting, ignored World Health organization advice on mass testing and didn’t answer calls from big corporations offering to help and support essential workers through this time.
It’s hard to process that we’re living through something that has affected the whole world so quickly and suddenly. It seems shocking that veterans who served in World War II who we’re remembering today as part of a special holiday to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, are vulnerable, if not already victims, of this deadly virus. Bar the ongoing threat of climate change, nothing has made me question quite so much the way I live my life on this planet. I find reports on New Zealand particularly fascinating; while much smaller than the UK - as another island it does make me question how different life could currently be if we, as a country, had taken more of a Jacinda Ardern-type response.
Despite the media’s reports being overwhelming, our PM’s apparently haphazardous response makes me trust advice from News Outlets more than the words spoken by our elected officials. Truth be told, at the start of the lockdown I did have to tune out a little. Even listening to The Guardian’s ‘Today in Focus’ podcast makes me break down in tears. I try to stick mostly to fact sheet pages and statistical or scientific reports.
Within my own little bubble -productivity has definitely decreased (A-level exams cut short) and my mental health has become something I need to watch. On the other hand, it has made me communicate with others via social media more - pushing me to re-form relationships with friends and even family members via Zoom calls and online games such as Words with Friends.
My habits and favourite hobbies have shifted too. I have joined many others in rediscovering my passion for Animal Crossing, diligently paying back bells to landlord Tom Nook. I’ve also been doing a lot of cooking. There’s a satisfaction from completing a task where there is a tangible end result that myself and my family can enjoy. My Mum and I have also been sitting together for afternoon tea to pause halfway through the day - though I’m not really pausing from anything.
While it is hard on our economy and the prospect of future recession is scary - I am glad we are staying in lockdown. Other counties, like Germany, have seen cases increase as they’ve eased out of stage 4 measures suggesting second spikes are a real threat if we lower our guard too soon. Certainly without mass testing and tracing in Britain it would be absurd. For now, I continue to stay home and am happy to do so. I want to return to normal life - but I want to be safe in doing so. To any teenagers out there who feel the same; fancy a game on Animal Crossing?
transition: uk ---> latin america
Anna Dai-Liu
One of the things that really hit hard this year was exams.
As some of you may know, I am a junior. This year was supposed to be the year, the most important year of my education. This was supposed to be the year I nailed down my exams, my preparations for college, everything for the future. Instead, I ended up sitting at home, trying not to panic about my wifi going out or my phone dying or the hundreds of other possible malfunctions that could happen through 6 different AP exams.
Like we saw from Eleni’s experience, education is shifting rapidly around the world. Just days ago, I watched my mom fill out a form on what’s going to happen to the classroom. Do we stay home to be physically safe or do we return so that our educations don’t get completely wrecked? Do we find something in between? What is that between?
I miss school. I really do. Never thought I’d say that, but I do.
One of the last things I remember from the day we left school on March 13th was in our Spanish class, we talked about things we had taken for granted in this time. One of the running jokes was toilet paper, because in America, out of all things, people run for toilet paper. But in Latin America, shortages are not a joke. Shortages of PPE, sanitary equipment, and even basic sanitary materials for everyday people run scarce because of the same hoarding that we’ve seen in almost every country.
Hannah Chen returns again to explain to us what happens there.
latin america - brazil & honduras
Hannah Chen
After seeing the uprising of cases in Asia spread rapidly to European and North American countries, which has created dramatic lockdown measures and a horribly large number of deaths, one would be quick to forget the other countries that have been largely impacted by the coronavirus.
Several Latin American countries have been struggling with the rising cases of COVID-19–Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, and Chile have been swarmed with over ten thousand cases. And a lot of this has to do with the way South American governments have been handling this pandemic.
In Brazil, a country where receiving quality healthcare is unknown, it has been difficult to provide ample tests for the coronavirus. Unfortunately, this has led to a rising number of cases over 1,000,000, and hospitals neither have enough testing kits nor beds for existing patients.
According to Luna Graziottin, a 17-year-old living in São Paulo, the Brazilian government has been “sending many mixed messages.” In the area that she lives, many are following social distancing measures; however, in terms of the entire country of Brazil, Graziottin believes that the country has not been listening to these cautions–São Paulo has also been the worst affected city within Brazil. She claims that the countries who “did not take the virus seriously at first and took a long time to start social distancing” are now facing the deteriorating consequences of it, and Brazil is now in this puddle of struggle.
The media has also influenced consequences around the world, and Graziottin alludes to how “this led to people buying in bulk and hogging medical masks and hand sanitizer, which later prevented hospitals and doctors from being able to safely take care of patients.” We need to keep staying aware of how the news feeds to the fears of many globally in order to remind ourselves of those who are in dire situations–by refusing to act in pure panic, we are saving those who need the most support.
Another South American country, Honduras, is dealing with the coronavirus similarly, but with a much lower count of COVID-19 cases. Nonetheless, don’t be deceived by these numbers. 16-year-old Daniella Penida, from Tegucigalpa, has expressed her distaste for how Honduras has been responding to the pandemic. Penida explained how the government’s measures have been “weak” and “not enough… to help with the containment of the virus.” Furthermore, there hasn’t been “help to the people that are economically affected” or those “in need of medical assistance” due to the great lack of coronavirus testing kits, aid, and regulation. But thankfully, Penida has noticed how many in Honduras have become more responsible for handling the coronavirus, which has helped with preventing the rapid increase in cases and spreading. “Positivity and hope are what we need to have right now,” says Penida. “Help your communities in any way you can.”
And Penida is right. We need to keep moving forward, staying aware, and consciously helping those around us. Please stay home, please stay respectful, please stay calm.
transition: latin america ---> canada
Anna Dai-Liu
“Everyone who wants a test will get a test,” Trump told us, dismissing everything (as he does) with a wave of the hand.
Infamous words now.
Just like in the US, tests have been scarce in Latin America. It’s turned to every person for themselves, every individual’s job to protect themselves and disinfect surfaces. And of course, all of us should be taking our responsibilities carefully, but there is still a priority order for tests. Promises are failing to be fulfilled, unfortunately, and in Latin America it is a weakness of government. In the US...well, I don’t even know what to label it now.
One of the harshest crackdowns, though, came from Canada, where the PM’s wife tested positive, leading to a sudden and total closing of borders and tight restrictions. As such, things have begun to improve, at least in the eyes of some of its residents, including our next correspondent, Sydney Gdanski, from Saskatchewan (read: sas-K-cheh-won).
canada - saskatchewan
Sydney Gdanski
Living in Saskatchewan is something I usually dislike. Being that I’m originally from Central Florida, living in such a small, cold place is not something I've enjoyed. However, over the last few months, I've never felt luckier to live here. Overall, the Province of Saskatchewan has done a relatively good job of dealing with the pandemic. Saskatchewan’s early reaction and high testing rates have led to success that can be seen throughout the province - Regina is a great example of this success. For those unfamiliar, Regina is a mid-size city located in southern Saskatchewan. Out of the population of 229,000 Regina has only had seventy-six cases and as of May 8th, only two are considered active. On Monday, May 4th Regina and other parts of the province began reopening non-essential medical services such as physiotherapists and chiropractors. On May 19th, some parts of the province are set to open retail businesses and select personal services like hair salons. These are small steps, but hopefully all goes well and Saskatchewan will be back to ‘normal’ soon, whatever that normal is. In the meantime, many Saskatchewan teens are keeping busy in the same way most teens are, with school. When Saskatchewan schools closed their doors in March students were told it was over for the year. At first this felt like a dream come true. Five months of summer seemed so ideal. Then the cases started rising and everyone was forced to stay inside. The five-month summer became five months inside with no physical contact with friends or anyone outside our households. Luckily, the school boards stepped in and gave students the option of school. I personally don't know where I'd be without school right now. It seems to be the only thing occupying my time these days. School can be stressful and boring, but right now, I'm very thankful I have it to keep me busy. This pandemic has shown me that sometimes I take things for granted, school being one of them. Another thing I used to take for granted was my sport, volleyball. For me, practice was my escape from everyday life. I got two play the sport I love with my friends and forget about the stresses of outside life. Now that it’s gone, I can truly see how much it means to me. When volleyball got taken away, I didn’t think much of it. I underestimated how bad this would get and just thought I'd have a couple weeks off. Then a couple weeks turned into a couple months and right now it doesn’t look like it'll come back anytime soon. With physical distancing rules still in place for the foreseeable future, normal practicing is impossible. Although, I want to go back, I understand these rules are in place to keep everyone safe and it’s super important to continue to follow them. It's also very important the government keeps them in place until we know it is safe. There have been some cases of places opening too early and everything going downhill. One example is some American States. States like Georgia, Florida, and Texas began opening while cases continued to rise. Texas for example, is seeing a spike in its cases. Saskatchewan has made huge progress so it’s super important that we, as a province, continue in the right direction. If Saskatchewan rushes to reopen, we will likely see a spike in cases like Texas has. As much as I'd like to go back to a somewhat normal life, it's not nearly as important as the health of the people in Saskatchewan. If the government continues to deal with this correctly Saskatchewan could be out of this soon and us Saskatchewan residents may be able to go on with our ‘normal’ lives soon enough.
transition: canada ---> new york
Anna Dai-Liu
Although things may be improving in Canada, as Sydney told us, she also mentioned that things are not going so well in the US. States are reopening prematurely without adhering to the Trump administration’s guidelines, and the death toll has continued to rise, hitting the grand 100,000 in these past few days, as we saw with the names going across the front page with the New York Times on the 26th.
One of the first regions to be hit hard was New York City. Not unexpected, due to its status as a global metropolitan region, but people quickly began carrying the virus throughout the Northeast US, spreading farther westward and southward slowly. Teenagers, too, have had their lives disrupted in these regions, discovering new perspectives in this situation that never stops evolving.
Jonah continues next to tell us his story.
usa - new york
Jonah Miller
Over the last few months, when I tell people I live in New York, they wonder what life is like. Have the New York City suburbs become a dystopian society similar to those in novels? Well, no, but life has certainly changed. Besides the abrupt transition from in-person to online school, Westchester County, New York, where I live, was once the center of attention or COVID-19 in America. Do you remember seeing reports of the New York national guard aiding communities in New Rochelle in early March? New Rochelle is a four minute drive from my house. In fact, as I was planning a college visiting trip over spring break, which was obviously cancelled, some of the schools had pop-up banners on their website reading, “If you have been to Westchester County, New York, you may not come onto campus.”
Westchester was rapidly increasing in its number of cases, and my school district, after a faculty member contracted the virus, decided to close school for eleven days, starting Friday, March 6th, one week before the majority of the country shut down. Since my school was alone in its decision to close, students, including myself, disregarded the social distancing guidelines. While I did not, many of my peers threw COVID-19 themed parties and socialized in large groups. In reflecting on our decisions from early March, it’s weird to think about how much we did not care about the virus. After realizing the virus’s fatal effects, my town went under lockdown.
My family did not leave the house besides biking and short walks for a few weeks. Nothing was open. I didn’t see anyone besides my family for weeks. As New Yorkers kept safe, I looked at my peers in southern states, which are now the hotspots for the second wave of the virus, who were eating inside restaurants, seeing all of their friends, attending parties with absolutely no regard for public safety. It’s shocking, really: during this second wave, many southerners refuse to practice the same guidelines New Yorkers had been facing for months.
Up until last week, mid-way through June, nobody in my family had entered any shop, restaurant, or supermarket. As the COVID-19 hotspot transfers from New York City to the south, people here have started to ease restrictions. Just over one week ago, outdoor seating became available in Westchester. Once known across the US as the most dangerous county in the country in terms of cases has now started outdoor seating. Crazy, right? I have even started to walk around with some friends.
I am undoubtedly grateful for the leadership of my governor, Andrew Cuomo, for championing the efforts of flattening the curve in New York. Still, New York has the most cases by far: 393,257 as of June 22, according to the New York Times. We have, however, been decreasing for months. Grateful for New York’s leadership, I am proud and happy to live here. I can just hope that the new hotspots around the country can learn from New York’s quick and pragmatic actions.
transition: new york ---> simi valley
Anna Dai-Liu
The East Coast has rapidly become one of several focal points in this epidemic, mainly because it was the first region hit as the virus spread from New York. Teenagers have learned to cope in many ways, and for some, like Moreno and Konkesa, that means focusing in on the personal life that they have and rethinking some of the habits or beliefs they may have had before.
However, the West Coast, as I fully know, has been a different story. Even as you travel through different parts of California, the pictures vary. But through what I’ve seen, teenagers have been some of the most outspoken voices on this, encouraging older generations to stay home and encouraging other teenagers to stay home to protect those who are vulnerable.
Avery Berg returns again to describe what it’s been like in Simi Valley, just north of LA, another hotspot in this epidemic.
usa - california, simi valley
Avery Berg
When health experts announced that COVID-19 was classified as a pandemic, many thought of cities resembling ghost towns and everyone wearing masks. In Simi Valley, a small city in southern California, it is the opposite. Multitudes of cars peruse the streets every minute and groups of teens are seen together all over social media. Many teenagers here argue that everyone should return to school and work so that we could collectively build immunity to the virus. Although there is no evidence that contracting the virus builds long-lasting immunity, it is still a common argument. When I am taking a five minute drive to the nearest store with my mom, we can spot multiple houses with large signs demanding that quarantine ends. It is understandable that teenagers may feel confined to their homes and that they are missing out on youthful experiences, but this belief prompts them to venture out to parties with friends. This is why my county has over 2,000 cases, according to the New York Times. A theory I have heard from a fellow teen was that Bill Gates is using the virus as a form of population control. This most likely comes from Bill Gates’ large contribution to the building of a vaccine for COVID-19. Quite a few Simi Valley teens share the common belief that their rights are being infringed upon, and that they should be able to leave their house when they desire.
When there are teenagers who believe in one extreme there are others who believe the opposite. Like me, there are teens who have faith that social distancing is saving the lives of the elderly and the high risk citizens in Simi Valley. A lot of people my age I know are very disappointed that they can’t see their friends, but they are aware that their lack of physical contact is benefitting the masses. In this day and age with texting and calling, most people are constantly in contact with family and friends, which is helping a lot of teenagers in my city cope with the isolation. For me personally, I have social distancing hangouts with two of my friends every week. Our cars are parked six feet apart and we check up on each other to see how we are doing emotionally. I know that there are plenty of other teenagers who partake in such meetups in Simi Valley. Some go to parking lots, parks, or in the drive ways of each other's houses. Although it is a crazy time in both my city and in the world we teenagers are finding ways to both cope and pass the time. Many people I talk to are keeping busy with online school, which is still stressful to some despite being outside of the classroom. Going on walks is also very common. In Simi Valley there is a creek that runs through the main parts of town, and it is always packed with families walking and teenagers running or biking. More people are utilizing this time off work and school to exercise and focus on taking time in nature. Despite the two differing opinions among the teenagers in my city, we all have the overarching desire for the pandemic to end. Truthfully, the only way for this to happen is for all teenagers and adults around the world to stay in their homes. This will bring the chaos that is consuming our world to a halt faster. A lot of my fellow adolescents in Simi Valley can agree that it may seem like a torturous time right now, but with effort and the correct precautions lives will be saved and time in quarantine can be shortened.
transition: simi valley ---> san diego
Anna Dai-Liu
“It may seem like a torturous time right now.”
Apparently it is, for the people who turned up to protest against the lockdown in my city because they want a haircut or something like that.
Yes, the economy is important, but is it worth people’s lives? To Simi Valley’s teenagers, the answer is no. And as you move down south, all the way to San Diego, the sentiment is shared by the teenagers here.
We’re drawing to a close soon, coming to the end of our trip around this world. We began in China, where this whole pandemic first originated, and traveled this long road through Asia, down to Oceania, through Europe, and across the Atlantic to the Americas. Now we come to an end. And yes, this last and final story is mine.
usa - california, san diego
Anna Dai-Liu
Everyone goes on and on about how they’ve taken the toilet paper and the education and the friendship and the hand sanitizer for granted; in San Diego, oddly enough, the one thing we really took for granted was the beach.
It’s no secret that the beaches are what makes San Diego famous—they’re what attract tourists and businesses alike to our city. Going to the beach, for me at least, is like going to the grocery store; in the summer, you’ll see hundreds of people packed on the sand laying in the sun or surfing in the ocean.
But not today; not anymore.
Some of the first public places to be shut down were the beaches. Now, the city’s priority in opening up has been to open them back up.
Although the beaches are important to the city’s economy because they fuel local business, it has lured San Diegans into a false sense of security. On a late-night drive by the beach a few weeks ago, my family was afraid to exit the car because the fact was, it was impossible to socially distance with that many people crowded to see the bioluminescent water.
I’m not saying the beaches aren’t important; in fact, as mentioned previously, the beaches are what rakes in the tourists. But now, there are no tourists, there are no people coming into sit-down restaurants—and I believe that the priorities were misjudged when it came to deciding what needed to be opened first, because if this is how we continue, the cases are not going to be dropping anytime soon. However, this upsets me most because San Diego is right on the US-Mexico border, and as many know, with the Trump administration came ICE enforcement and the detention centers. In these times, undocumented immigrants in those centers are more vulnerable than ever because the government, quite simply, does not want to deal with them right now.
As such, there has been no control to prevent the spread of coronavirus in these centers, and already there are reports of cases coming from detained immigrants. Like jails, it is virtually impossible to maintain satisfactory social distancing in these buildings; however, unlike jails, these detained immigrants are not being released. (Isn’t it ironic—that people who committed manslaughter are being released while they are not?)
I know that to the government, it seems dangerous to set immigrants free; after all, who knows if they will ever return to receive proper documentation? Few people would probably willingly return if they knew they were to be deported. However, that does not mean they do not merit humane treatment while they are in these centers, and one of those things, in my opinion, ought to be the protection of the people who are currently under the government’s control.
But I digress, because, unfortunately, although I’d like it to be, it is not the priority of the San Diego government. Rather, it’s the many small businesses that are shutting their doors, probably not to return at least for a while, and who knows how long that while will be.
Talking to friends, it seems like most of the teenagers I know understand the importance of staying home and of masking, but yet there are posts on our neighborhood watch portal of teenagers gathering at the park, mask-free, and definitely not social distancing. I’d like to believe that our generation knows better because of the access to technology and information we have, but this period really is a test of generations—a test to see whether or not there really is a difference between the old and new schools of thinking at all. Right now, I don’t know, but we are only as strong as our weakest link.
I talked recently with some friends (over FaceTime, of course) about what happens next. What happens to the rest of this school year? What happens this summer? What happens when we apply for colleges? What does our future look like? For us juniors, unfortunately, there is a lot of focus on getting academics wrapped up and not actively talking about the real world problems. But despite that, I think most of us know what to do here; although we may not agree with the reopening of the city that has begun, most of us are continuing to be careful and staying at home—just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
conclusion
Anna Dai-Liu
It’s been about a month since many of these interviews were compiled and written, and things have changed. Today, May 30th, as I sit and type this, thousands of people are coming into the streets to fight against a racism that has long been ingrained in our society, putting their lives at risk in the midst of this pandemic. Either way, people’s lives are at risk; just a few nights ago, I watched Don Lemon talk about “the two deadly viruses in America now: COVID-19 and racism”.
Things continue to evolve. There’s been a vaccine promised, but even if legal things are fast-tracked, clinical trials cannot be rushed. Everyone is holding out for a vaccine, but realistically speaking, that may take at least another year to be realized, not the months that were originally promised.
And what are teenagers doing in the face of all of this? We’ve heard the stories above, sure, but this is the world that we are going to inherit. Sure, at least we follow the rules, but call out peers who are not. Now that school is over, exams are out, what else can we do? I’m guilty of having phased out of the world slightly in these last couple of months, but now there’s no excuse. This article is my first attempt to step it up and do something. I hope you’ve found some sort of way to change the world around you for the better too.
And like I said in the beginning, I hope that with this article, we’ve changed your mind about something. Maybe that means we’ve opened your mind to a different perspective. Maybe that means that you’ve realized that really, we are privileged, because the stories of those who are truly struggling aren’t even here. They may not even have access to technology or wifi. But we do, and that means we can do things. We can educate ourselves on politics and foreign policy. We can educate ourselves on economics. That is privilege.
I hope you use it well now so that as we grow in this world, we will already be aware of the change that needs to happen.