Continuing to live with Covid
Continuing to live with Covid
Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Meghan, 20, a Jigsaw volunteer from Cork gives her story: The past few months have been uncertain for myself, and I’m sure many others, with many new changes in every aspect of our lives.
Uncertainty of when I’ll be able to see my friends, uncertainty around college and when we’ll be going back on campus, work and being able to feel comfortable and safe in crowded areas.
Lifestyle changes
My life has certainly changed in many ways since the beginning of Covid-19 in March. Some things that have changed include not being able to eat out at restaurants anymore, having to wear a mask everywhere, and the most frustrating thing is hand sanitizing my hands always!
I know it’s extremely important to do so, but my hands get red, sore and itchy from constantly using it. I have invested in a hand sanitizer which also acts as a moisturiser, and that has helped massively.
Consistency of family life
I suppose the only thing that has fully remained the same since lockdown is my family home life which I am extremely grateful for. We live out in the country and don’t venture into town that often so not much has changed.
It’s times like this that make me realise how lucky I am to live in the country because I can still go out for a walk without bumping into others.
New ways to socialise
Personally, I love to socialise and used to love meeting up with my friends for coffees and going window shopping around town, so not being able to see my friends affected my mood dramatically. My friends are extremely important to me because they make me laugh and bring me so much joy on a day to day basis.
I began hosting zoom parties weekly to connect with my friends, and honestly, it’s been a blast! We all get together every Saturday night, play some games and catch up on the week we’ve been having.
Sometimes there are internet issues and some lagging, but that comes hand in hand with WiFi. We just remained patient and waited for the lagging to sort itself out. One Saturday night, zoom just refused to work, so we downloaded house party, which is another video app and used that for the night.
Being on zoom with my pals has definitely made a massive difference during lockdown because it’s something I have to look forward to every single week! It’s really helped me because even though I don’t get to see my friends face to face, I still get to have banter with them but also check up on them to see how they’re all coping.
Feeling uneasy
I haven’t yet fully socialised with my friends face to face because I still feel uneasy about this virus. It makes me uneasy because I am way more conscious of touching surfaces and being in crowded areas.
I personally have loads of high-risk family members who are very vulnerable to the virus. It makes me uneasy being out and about because the last thing I want happening is to catch the virus and spread it to my family.
I will say I was scared at the beginning because people weren’t wearing masks and weren’t taking the pandemic as seriously as they are now in my town. But I had to realise I am not responsible for others actions only my own! I wear my mask because it’s the right thing to do and I’m trying to protect not only myself but also my family from the virus.
Learning to adapt
From thinking we were only going into lockdown for 2 weeks to flatten the curve to now living with COVID for the last 9 months, I have certainly learned many things about myself and how I have adapted throughout the last 9 months.
I have learned that I am very thoughtful towards other people’s feelings and perspectives. I began realising how lucky and grateful I am to have basic essentials such as hot running water, a roof over my head, a bed to sleep in and an amazing support system around me.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, everyone needs to do their part to curb this virus and hopefully sooner rather than later things will return to normal.
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