Has Covid-19 affected you?

Most people plan their year in advance. You already know if you are going camping in the summer, if you have wedding plans and so on. This year were were all caught in a really bad storm. I don't think many people thought Covid-19 was going to affect us the way it it. I know I certainly didn't.

I had friends asking me in January if I was still going on my European trip in April, my response usually was "the only thing that will stop me, is if the borders close." Well, the bordered closed. First Italy and then the rest of the world.

Covid, and this "quarantine" has affected many people in multiple different ways. I know many people who lost jobs and income and had to rely on support from the government or saving to get by. Here in Canada, I think our government handled it fairly well from what I heard from friend getting the CERB. I know nothing will ever run smoothly but overall I think it went okay.

To my friends who were pregnant or were new parents with newborns at home. I can't imagine the isolation. For starters, no one who the effect it could have on expecting mothers and the unknown and the fear of what it could do to your unborn child must be nerve wracking. Those who are living a totally different maternity leave then what they had planned or expected. All newborn activities were cancelled, and learning opportunities with other parents and children were now zoom calls. The new parents who gave birth alone or with less support people than you planned. The parents who were were forced to learned their new life as a parent on their own because, no one was able to help them who was not in contact with anyone.

To the multiple people who already suffer from being and feeling alone and then being forced to stay in you house for an uncertain amount of time. Depression really sunk in. The people with anxiety who don't do well with the unknown and listening to media and reading all the sadness and death in the news, I hear you. Covid caused many who relied on psych appointments now had to be over the phone, a less than optimal way of assessing patients who are feeling sad and depressed.

Myself, my life was not changed drastically. I work in a hospital and therefore essential. the first few weeks of the "lockdown" announcement was scary, so much unknown and knowing you're in the front lines and what was happening around the world was terrifying.

I was however planning a vacation during that time, which was obviously cancelled. While I was still able to work and earn an income I also had more time off then usual. Where I live the hospitals were not hit as hard as Italy and New York, so I was able to keep some vacation. It felt so nice to be able to step back and slow down. we live in such a fast paced world that we take slowing down for granted. So being forced to do it was just what I needed.

Covid-19 is certainly not over and I don't think it will ever go away entirely. Im just incredibly thankful for my friends and families health and my own. I think hospitals and the way we live will forever be changed. I think we are trying to find a new balance of the new normal. One day I we will look back on this and tell stories of how we lived through a pandemic.

I would love to hear from you and how covid-19 has affected your life.