Impact of COVID-19 in our Lifestyle
- How is the coronavirus affecting your life — physically, socially and emotionally? What changes have you, your friends, family and community experienced? What has been the most difficult aspect for you?
In contemporary societies, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the people across the world. The people are forced to change their lifestyle and change the way they conduct their activities in various communities. The schools have been closed, the parks have also been shut down, and there are restrictions measures have been initiated to make people stay indoors. From these changes made due to this pandemic, I have been greatly affected socially, emotionally and physically. The epidemic has affected my social lifestyle in that; I am not able to interact with my fellow friends, family members and other people which is a great burden in my life. I was used to social interactions before this pandemic, and it is therefore too difficult to adapt to the social interactions restrictions. The COVID-19 is affecting me physically because I am not able to do physical exercises as I used to. The gym sites are closed, and so I get the hard times exercising at home. Besides, this threat is affecting my emotional lifestyle since I am not that jovial as I used to do. This is because I don’t meet with my friends who used to restore my feelings, especially when I was too low. The changes that my family members, friends and community members have experienced are the implementation of the lockdown and social distancing, which most of us have found it difficult to adjust to them. The most aspect for most people is the restriction to stay indoors since most people have not been used to that.
- After the closure of your school, what does your education look and feel like now?
The COVID-19 disease pandemic has significantly disrupted my school experience over a few days. This is because the schools were closed and we resumed back home. Since my school has been closed, I am getting challenges learning from home. We are conducting our studies from home through the online zoom classes, which are helping us continue with our syllabus. The online courses are effective to me, and I enjoy the classes very much. However, the biggest problem I encounter with the lessons is that I rarely do my assignment since there is no close follow up of the homework. I also lose my concentration to other entertainment online sites like YouTube; hence I rarely read my classwork. Conversely, I am feeling that these online practices are significantly affecting me since my classwork performance is getting too low. I also think that the zoom classes are also changing my understanding and lowering my participation in classwork.
- Are you and your family practising any forms of social distancing? If yes, which ones and why? If no, why not?
My family members and I are not practising social distancing because everyone at our home is always indoors. My parents and my other siblings are off from work, and we are all at home. We also tested a for the coronavirus and confirmed that we were all negative for the disease. Through this, we have the courage to 9nteract with each other. Besides, we are following other ml;,;’
.,measures such as handwashing initiative and use of masks that are helping us keep safe, especially when one of our family members is outdoors. It is also difficult to keep social distancing in our home because we are all participating in the indoor physical exercising as my family were prone to exercises before the outbreak of this pandemic.
- How are you staying connected in a time of social distancing? How have you been staying in touch with your social groups? What new routines have you developed?
Social distancing has been the most challenging initiative that has been implemented during this outbreak of COVID-19 disease. People were used to social interactions before this pandemic. For that reason, people have found ways of staying connected during this period of the epidemic. The online platforms are now becoming more active in this period. The people are using the platforms for most of their social interactions. The meetings are conducted through the E-Conferencing method, thus promoting the essential activities, especially in large organizations. The schools are also ongoing with their online classes to ensure that the school program is going on normally as expected. I have been staying in touch with my groups through video calls, thus enabling us to get connected and share the moments. We have also developed a schedule that will enhance us meet at a specific time to get interacted and hold our meeting regarding our social life.
- What helps you deal with all the changes brought on by the coronavirus outbreak? How do you cope with feelings of isolation and loneliness? Do any of the coping strategies suggested by Mr Shihipar resonate with you? What strategies would you recommend to others?
Despite the changes made to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, I have found ways to deal with these changes. I have been motivated to participate in the indoor exercises to keep me going with my workouts. This helps to keep me fit and active at any time, regardless of staying indoors. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have always found myself lonely and isolated. To curb this problem, I have got myself and my time into the social media platforms. The sites offer more entertainment that helps to keep being happy. My friends and I are prone to video chatting hence keeping me live with them. I always enjoy these moments and feel the loneliness, and the isolation feeling is off from me. Besides, I spend the most time with my family members than before hence making me feel close to people. The strategy of Mr Shihipar of social distancing always resonates with me. I have been used to my friends before the COVID-19 disease outbreak but with the issue of social distancing, making me feel isolated hence keeping me moody always. I recommend people to get some activities like playing online video games to keep them off from the feeling of loneliness. I also recommend the people with the isolation and loneliness feeling to get much into their pets.