Peri

33

6/22/2020

Saratoga Springs, New York

I had heard about the outbreak in China from reading the news and also from a friend who is currently living in Shanghai. He had been in self-quarantine for weeks before it "arrived" in the US. I then heard about the first two cases in Saratoga because they were two pharmacists I knew and they just happened to live on my road! I like to stay informed as I am in the healthcare field, so I was trying to get my information from reputable sources and just stay up to date.

I have taken many more precautions than maybe we otherwise would have because I was pregnant and I now have a newborn! It is different for the obvious reasons - Wearing a mask in public, I used to go to the grocery store on a weekly basis and we now are using Instacart or doing curb-side pick up, we do not see anyone unless it is out of necessity or we can see them outside, my son had to stop going to pre-k and the library and so on.

I feel ok most of the time. Every once in a while it hits me how bizarre and crazy this entire situation is. We are very lucky to live where we do - access to a lot of land, hiking trails, our pond, our garden, etc. We were still able to work through the peak of the pandemic which allowed us to have some outside contact with the community. We just try to get out in nature as much as possible.

I think that the stores in the community really stepped up! It was nice going to local shops and seeing that they were offering curb side pick up or delivery. I am surprised that so many people are wearing masks. I am also surprised that so many older people were out in public, even during the peak, and were not wearing masks!

I am a pharmacist! I just went out on maternity leave last week, but I worked through the entire original outbreak. Being pregnant, I started to wear an N95 mask to work. I also did not go out and counsel people as close as I usually would. I stayed behind the bench. We also did not do shots unless they were absolutely necessary. We did deliveries for older/sicker people and we eventually had a plastic shield put up at our front counter. At home, I was spraying everything down on a regular basis with an alcohol spray. We were also obviously washing our hands a million times a day.

I was working out of the home, but my husband started to work from home. It was actually nice to have him home, but sad that the reason was due to wide spread sickness and fear.

YES! I have a three year old and as of last week, I have a newborn! I feel bad that my son can no longer go to preschool and he has had no access to kids for months. It makes me sad if I think about it too much. I am very nervous to have a newborn, but I am trying to stay positive that we have the summer to enjoy right now.

I am trying to avoid social media in general. I do appreciate the online shopping options that were made available to me though. They allowed us to get our basic necessities without having to go out of our house! We can also enjoy Netflix/movies to "escape" reality every once in a while.

We were very lucky that we did not have any major life events that were upset due to COVID. We didn't have a 3-year birthday party for my son, but it wasn't worth anyone getting sick to have a kids birthday party.

I really did love that several local establishments stepped up and offered curb-side pick up or delivery. It was wonderful to see them still up and running.

I knew several people who tested positive for COVID-19. I was lucky in that the cases were mostly mild. It was still scary to hear though.

I would want them to know that it will be ok! It's important to be prepared (have some extra toilet paper, cleaning supplies, canned/frozen food, etc) but also to stay optimistic. Humans are amazing and resilient. There is no way of knowing when something like this will happen again, so worrying too much about it ahead of time is pointless. Rise to the challenge! Come up with creative and positive ways to help out your community and family and friends. BE SAFE - wear a mask, wash your hands, etc.

I hope that our healthcare system will be better prepared for a "next time." I also hope that our government will step up, be honest with the public, not spread misinformation and cause mass confusion, and work with the science community and make a bipartisan effort to help our country. I hope that we can go back to how it was before with more precautionary measures. That is my hope...

Peri

Southern Adirondack Library System

English

Covid History

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