A month ago, my 14-year-old cousin died in the hospital after testing positive for COVID-19. She was a teenager. She was supposed to celebrate her quinceañera in January and we were supposed to watch her flourish as a woman. But her underlying medical conditions placed her into an unfortunate fate.
In the midst of the intense grief within my family, my grandpa passed away only 10 days after her. He can no longer be found sitting on the chair in front of his house, waiting for someone to come up and talk to him.
Viruses spread. We know this, but think about it this way: one day everyone is enjoying each other’s company and the next may feel like a regular day – nothing wrong with spending some quality time with your loved ones, a short distraction from the harsh reality that is 2020, right?
Nothing wrong with it until a few days pass and positive test results start rolling in. Next thing you know you’re waking up each day checking to see if anyone else is gone. No matter how much time passes, viruses spread. You won’t really know if the next person will be okay, but one thing is for sure – no one will be as lucky as the president.
President Donald Trump, who had access to a private medical team through his process after testing positive for COVID-19 tweeted, “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs and knowledge.”
The uncertainty in the outcome of COVID-19 is definitely something to be afraid of. We shouldn’t let it dominate our lives, but by following the proper precautions that minimize risk.
As much as we like to dream, we’re not equal in this country – hardly anyone has access to the developments in medicine, or more so the special treatments that are given only to those who have money and power. Trump was lucky that nothing else happened to him but it’s unfair to assume everyone else will have the same luck.
The contradicting information from the doctors and the media about the status of his health confused the public on the severity of symptoms he was dealing with and how he was being treated for them. With a lack of concrete information about his experience with the virus, the general public is left to fend for themselves under whatever protection they have access to.
All in all, we can blame the president as much as we want, but until we make collective changes as a country, we’re going to be stuck in this never-ending cycle of uncertainty. Take a minute to go on the World Health Organization Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard – pay attention to the fact that America is on top for all of the wrong reasons.
We are the problem, no matter how much we want to put blame on everyone else. Our decision to hang out with a few close ones today can lead to the possibility of not being able to see them for the rest of our lives.
