As reports from friends continue to come in from TN and AL of people I know who either have COVID or have a relative of theirs with the virus, it was a bit disconcerting to get my email from the Wake County Board of Elections detailing all the precautions we will be taking this fall for the safety of both the workers and the voting public. I'm thankful they're taking this seriously (I knew they would) and are and will be doing everything in their power to make elections safely happen. And yet, it still makes me pause.
There's still so much unknown about this virus. Parents are being asked to make decisions about their children's education now (will they attend school or do online school), when we are still several months away from the start of school. A lot can change between now and then. My sister was telling me that if a student is out sick, they will have to be tested for Covid before they can return. My niece has a lot of sinus and throat problems, so this would mean she would have to be tested for Covid at least once a month. And when I think about friends with children who have true health needs, my heart aches for them. I've not double-checked the department of non-public education to verify this but I've heard that homeschool registrations for this next school year have doubled.
Meanwhile, people we know with the virus have symptoms that range from "mild flu with ongoing loss of taste and smell" and "extremely severe sinus infection with fatigue" to days in the ICU (most being 3-7 days, though there's one now on day 43) or repeated visits and steroid treatments at the ER.
It's such a strange time to be living. These are the types of things you read about in history books. Sometimes I ponder if God didn't send this to make us all hit the pause button in our lives to rest and refocus, and other times I'm still baffled that we can have such a pandemic in such a modern world. Regardless of its cause or the reason behind it, it is here, and likely here to stay for some time.
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