By EMILY DIAL

The place that most of us spend the majority of our time in is our home. We eat, sleep and have some of our best memories there. However, none of us could have imagined in January that we would have been spending this much time in our homes come April. It is easy to say that we are all eager to find an escape from our homes and experience the world around us in a more social way again, but that may be easier said than done.

This global pandemic has made some of us more aware, and quite frankly more scared, of the contact we have with other people. So, when this pandemic finally reaches its end and our leaders lift their quarantine rules, will people rush out of their homes again?

“I think honestly that people should wait longer because they don’t really understand the effects of the virus,” said an anonymous person in Monroe who had the virus. “Like, I have dealt with [the symptoms] and it’s honestly not as easy going as the TV portrays, like it’s not easy to bounce back. It takes time to get back to where you were. So, you should be as precautious as you can be and not really take the media’s word for it. You know, take some extra time to stay away. Even though it financially hurts many businesses, I understand that, I just think health over wealth.”

For someone who has gone through the sufferings caused by COVID-19, leaving home and taking the risk of getting the virus presents an issue of great concern. It is easy for those of us who have not yet experienced the dreadful symptoms of COVID-19 to say that we are ready to leave our homes and take that risk; however, learning about the experiences of those who have gone through the symptoms of the virus may make us rethink our risky endeavors.

“Youths, we do have a quicker recovery time, but it’s the same thing,” continued the anonymous member of our community. “If you get it and may be asymptomatic, you can still pass it on to people in your family, and to have that guilt upon you that you brought in that virus — I just think that everybody should be precautious really, I don’t really think it matters what age you are.”

Regardless of these concerns that people of all ages may have, many stores are beginning to open up, including some malls in a few states, but there are now more restrictions put into place to make the shopping experience safer. For example, consumers can not try on clothing or have a retailer determine their shoe size, and there are various hand sanitizing stations throughout these public areas.

However, even with these safety measures, the malls that have opened have seen significantly smaller crowds of eager customers than before the pandemic.

On top of safety being a great concern, there is still another worry that is keeping consumers from spending their money. The unemployment rate as of April 2020 is 14.7 percent, and with people losing their jobs and struggling with financial stability, many are not able to spend money on unnecessary consumer goods.

There are many reasons to want to find an escape from our homes now that stores are beginning to open up; however, the many restraints that keep us from wanting or being able to leave our homes present the valid question of how long it will be until people begin returning to their normal lives again.

By JOSIE MAGUIRE

The question of “Where should we go to eat?” or even “Where do you wanna go out tonight?” is most commonly answered with the name of a favorite family owned restaurant or diner — not your own home.

Restaurants are a place of gathering where parents can enjoy a nice meal with no dishes to clean and kids are able to choose their own meal without endless complaining at the dinner table. However, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has caused a standstill in many businesses, specifically the restaurant business, forcing many to either settle into online take out or shut down completely.

While a lot of us are at home, trying to come up with new meal ideas daily, restaurants all over the country and right here in Monroe are struggling to make ends meet. Even with “no-contact delivery” and socially distanced order and pickup, the income is just not the same now as it was pre-quarantine.

Finding ways to support these local businesses by more than just ordering food or going to the store can be hard, but people across social media have formed organizations to try to solve this issue. From all the way down in Florida and up to the town of Monroe, people have banded together in an attempt to support the businesses that continue to provide them with so much.

In Delray Beach, Florida, a group of people came together online and created a Facebook group chat called “The Socially Distanced Supper Club.” Today News, which featured this story of supporting local businesses in early May, explained how this online community created a “flash mob, where every day club members choose a restaurant to order from, as a group.” This effort has helped keep the local Delray Beach restaurants and their employees in business. By coming together online, this group of people was able to support the struggling restaurants in their town and give back to them in the ways that they can.

Similar community organized groups have formed in Monroe as well. For example, the Monroe, CT residents page on Facebook ran a campaign where for every purchase made from a local business in town, an anonymous donor gave $10 to The Monroe Food Pantry. All you had to do was post on the Facebook page a picture and receipt of what you bought, using the hashtags #doyourbusinessinmonroe and #feedyourneighbor. This campaign lasted from April 27 to May 16 and raised a total of $6,400 towards The Monroe Food Pantry. This act supported both the restaurants and businesses in Monroe, but also the food pantry, which again gives back to those who are in need.

These are just some of the many ways community run organizations and campaigns are being made to support local businesses and restaurants and to ensure their success as they open back up again in the following weeks. From the drive-by flash mobs to Facebook posts, this pandemic that has forced so many businesses to shut down is being overpowered by the kindness of people who are trying to do good.

By KATIE WELCH

Just when we thought 2020 could not get any worse, research has shown that the coronavirus might come back for a second wave in the fall. During the early weeks of March, the United States went into a nationwide lockdown and the government instructed everyone to quarantine themselves in their homes. Self quartaine has been very helpful in slowing the rate at which this virus is spreading, but signs of a second wave hitting this fall are becoming very apparent.

In order for the virus to spread it needs a susceptible host where it can live and the only way to prevent the virus from transmitting is to reduce contact with other people who could be a host. At the beginning of the pandemic the reproduction number of corona was rapidly increasing, but now after about three months of lockdown, it is starting to slow down.

Marc Lipsitch, a Harvard epidemiology professor, said in an interview with the American Medical Association that he expects warm, summer weather to contribute to a decline in coronavirus transmission, but only by about 20 percent.

The relationship between the first wave and the number of cases show that as long as there are still people affected with the virus, it will continue to spread; therefore, resulting in only limited immunity. As lockdown rules are becoming more relaxed, and public places begin to open up, we are expected to see the number of cases to spike. The spike could lead to a large outbreak this fall like we saw in March.

Another concern about the possibility of the second wave of the coronavirus is that it will be prevalent with other viruses that usually spread in the colder months like the flu.

Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said “It will likely be worse than the initial wave we experienced this spring. Combined with influenza, the intensity of both viruses combined could make our initial COVID-19 look benign.”

According to Healthline.com when the 1918 flu pandemic hit the United States it also began with an efficacious wave in March and then returned with a second and more lethal wave in October. Scientists and doctors are using examples that have happened in the past like the 1918 flu pandemic to help lead research on what might happen this fall.

One way to help the United States prepare for this second wave is providing the hospital with the necessary equipment to treat the new wave of patients.

Dr. Glatter says “We need to continue to prepare our hospitals for this reality, ramping up efforts to secure [personal protective equipment], and making sure we have adequate staffing and [intensive care unit] capability”

In the meantime, doctors like Dr. Glatter encourage people to continue to keep social distancing to help prevent the spread of this deadly virus and continue to slow down the increase in cases per day so that the second wave will not be as lethal as doctors and scientists expect.

One of the most prestigious standardized tests high school students ever take, the tests that students have been preparing for their entire school year, and the tests that can significantly improve students’ college experience by giving them college credit are none other than the Advanced Placement Tests. This year due to COVID-19, the AP tests were conducted online and students could take the assessments from the comfort of their own homes. Most students thought no multiple choice, open note, and free access to the internet would be the easiest AP test they have ever taken, and although they had all of these advantages they normally would not have, there was lots of trouble that came along with these online tests.

To prevent confusion for the online testing, they sent out a demo to practice taking these tests to make sure students understood the structure and outline of them. Here students had the opportunity to make sure they knew their email associated with their College Board account, and gain knowledge on what their AP test experience would look like. Prior to testing the College Board also released a student checklist where students would fill out their AP ID, the name of their exam, and check off the actions they had done in order to prepare for the test in case something went wrong during the test. These would primarily be used to apply for the makeup exams and help the College Board understand that the students followed their criteria.

Students had to log on 30 minutes prior to their testing time with an e-ticket that was sent to them 2 days before their exam. Here students put in their personal information and waited for their test to begin. Depending on the exam, students would have a limited amount of time to answer each question provided and were allowed five minutes to submit their answer. This was stressful to many students as they usually would have gotten more time to write their response in person. Many problems occurred because of this time limit, and also because of network issues.

Students like sophomore, Hannah Frost and junior, Grace Shawah, had trouble getting into the AP exam, and submitting their answers. Students have to rewrite a sentence sample as it is written above during the thirty minutes before the exam to make sure their typing will work.

“The screen said my response was not typed correctly, and I checked it over several times to be sure it was. I gave it to my dad to double-check and even he did not see any mistakes,” Frost said.

“It would not let me into my exam because it thought I had written the response incorrectly,

and I only got into the exam with nine minutes left,” Frost added.

Frost only had time to write an introduction to one of her questions before the time ran out. She had to request a makeup testing date, as it was the only option for her.

Shawah had a different experience with her AP AB Calculus exam. With this exam she did her work out by hand and planned on submitting photos of her work. With time left, Shawah uploaded her photos and hit the “submit my response” button and waited for the “Congratulations” screen to appear. Instead she saw the screen that said “We did not receive your responses.”

“It was frustrating because I did everything right but yet they still did not receive my answers. I filed to retake due to technical difficulties and ended up getting an email a few weeks later saying they were able to 'reconcile my responses,' and that the initial problem was due to a 'local transmission error,'” Shawah said.

Because these exams were the first few exams that happened, the College Board did not have any other option for students to submit their responses. The week after, they introduced a new option where if students’ answers were not received, they could email their responses within ten minutes of the end time of their exam instead. If students emailed their response to the specific email address the College Board provided them within ten minutes, their file was not too large, and they met the other criteria, their responses would be scored and they would not have to request a makeup exam. This saved many people whose submissions were not received, and allowed them to not have the stress of taking the makeup exam.

The online AP exams were certainly run differently from how they usually are run, and had many advantages as well as disadvantages. Scores will come back this summer and students can see how they did with this new, unfamiliar way of testing. It will be interesting to compare the test scores as students were being judged off of one or two open ended questions rather than a typical multiple choice and open ended question test. This new style of AP exams might be missed next year among the students, but we shall soon be back to normal and continue the old, prestigious ways of the AP exams.

Finding the right college for you can be stressful enough, however, with the coronavirus causing the United States to practice social distancing, students are now being forced to tour colleges virtually. This can affect the college search for students dramatically. Without being able to see schools in person, students will have a hard time figuring out which school they feel most comfortable at.

Additionally, the majority of SAT and ACT test dates have either been canceled or postponed. This means that most high school juniors don’t have their first SAT test score. Due to this, many colleges are switching to being test optional schools. Some of these schools include Boston University, UCONN, Cornell University, Harvard College and many more.

All of these changes will significantly affect each high school student who is ready to embark on the college admission process. Undoubtedly, these changes will impact the way students apply to colleges for years to come, much like how corona will have a long lasting impact on the world.