TUM: Following Jimmy Fallon's hashtag campaign #MyQuarantineInSixWords: how would YOU describe your quarantine in 6 words?

• Edie Huo, F2: I Am So Very Extremely Bored

• Anna Reso, M3: Bro, what do I do now

• Chris Waring, S6: Water water water loo loo loo

• Joseph Yu, M4: What Is Life Without Anime Club?

• Feifan Yang, S6: I am almost out of Snickers

TUM: What's the most unusual item you've seen people stock up on?

• Edie Huo, F2: Garden Gnomes

• Nathan Yang, F1: Shopping carts?

• Sam Hosseini-Moghaddam, M3: There was this grocery store where everything was sold out but Corona beer

• Jessie Chen, M3: I saw a guy at costco with a loooot of flowers? why do you need flowers in a quarantine

• Trinity Chung, F2: Ammunition.

• Feifan Yang, S6: Socks

TUM: What's a creative way to stay connected with people while social distancing?

• Edie Huo, F2: Cup Telephone

• Grace Ko, F2: Online Scrabble (https://earlyaccess.pogo.com/games/scrabble/play).

• Trinity Chung, F2: NETFLIX PARTY

• Alice Xu, F1: Using a drone to send messages back and forth.

• Joseph Yu, M4: Playing "I Love You Colonel Sanders: A Finger Lickin' Good Dating Simulator with friends over discord

• Katerina Lyakisheva, F1: We should send messenger pigeons.

TUM: Online school: what are you most/least excited for and why?

• Trinity Chung, F2: Doing school in pajamas

• Feifan Yang, S6: Most: I don't have to see people. Least: I can't see people

• Daniel Pinto, M3: Less (no) wasted time commuting

• Nathan Yang, F1: I’m not excited

• Aayaan Singal, F1: Most excited: Not having to wake up at 5:50. Least excited: Having to do schoolwork at home plus homework at an accelerated speed due to inevitable time lost while people and teachers adjust.

• Anna Reso, M3: I can’t WAIT to be able to sleep a little more every day

TUM: What's the first thing you're going to do once this pandemic situation is over?

• Daniel Pinto, M3: Have a gathering of over 250 people

• Lawrence Lin, F1: Give all my best friends a hug

TUM: How are you spending your extra time during the pandemic?

• Aayaan Singal, F1: Practicing piano, my swordsmanship, exercising, watching TV ( trying to beat my record of 17 movies during Winter break), playing games

• Alice Xu, F1: By cleaning up my dog's mess 24/7.

• Edie Huo, F2: Sleeping, screaming, and cleaning

• Many, many others: Netflix

TUM: What's your motto for the pandemic?

• Feifan Yang, S6: Two bros chilling in social isolation, 5 feet apart cuz they're responsible citizens

• Ann Derham, M4: Keep calm and carry on :)

• Sam Hosseini-Moghaddam, M3: "When you realize your normal life is quarantine"

• Lawrence Lin, F1: Don't die

• Crystal Li, M3: Can't get me if I'm already dead :D

• Daniel Pinto, M3: Hydrate or Diedrate

TUM: What's some good news you've heard recently?

• Grace Ko, F2: That the Cuspidor is still publishing!

• Edie Huo, F2: Free Shipping on literally almost everything, Free Delivery from Uber Eats for Chatime, and that dolphins are showing up in Venice.

• Aayaan Singal, F1: My grandfather gets to stay home from work.

• Kyle Truong, S6: Penguin live streams from zoos and aquariums

• Feifan Yang, S6: My sister is going to buy me Snickers

Dear UTS,

How are you doing? What have you been up to lately?

This past month has been probably one of the most strange and hectic in recent memory, and has definitely presented all of us with unprecedented challenges. Instead of enjoying our holidays over the March break and then returning to school feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, ready to learn again and see all our friends, we’ve been forced to stay home and switch to e-education, which leaves many of us feeling understandably lonely and unmotivated.

The recent outbreak of COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, isn’t just a danger to our physical health -- the anxiety caused by our worries about the illness, as well as the constant isolation mandated by social distancing, can definitely also take a toll on our mental and emotional well-being. But through all this, we are not alone. Here at UTS, your Jack Chapter exec have put together a short article of resources and advice that will hopefully help you to take care of yourself in these difficult times.

What is COVID-19 and what can I do about it?

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered strain of coronavirus. The illness causes mild to moderate respiratory symptoms similar to the flu in most patients, and the majority of those infected do not require serious medical attention. The elderly as well as those with underlying medical conditions are more likely to be acutely affected by COVID-19.

At the current moment, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19. However, there are many steps you can take to keep yourself safe. The disease primarily spreads through drops of saliva or discharge from the nose, so it’s important to practice respiratory etiquette, clean your hands often, and refrain from touching your face. In order to limit community spread of the disease, it’s also important that we all remain home as instructed and only go out in public when it is absolutely essential, for no longer than necessary.

Although COVID-19 can be a frightening and serious disease, following the above steps will greatly reduce your chances of infection and will help you to remain healthy during this time.

COVID-19 is affecting my ability to focus during class and get work done.

Due to the social isolation practices that we have been recommended to follow, many schools in Ontario -- including UTS -- have decided to adopt online classes. It can be very difficult to sit in front of a screen and pay attention all day, and then have to go and do more work on your computer.

To optimize your ability to learn and work well, make sure that you have a clean, well-lit, and quiet space dedicated to studying, and that you’ve prepared yourself with the right mindset and routine to attend class. If you’re showing up to your Google Meet freshly rolled out of bed and dressed in your pyjamas, you’re probably not going to be in the best headspace for concentration. As cheesy as it sounds, the best way to optimize your education is to take it seriously like you would a real class.

In order to make sure that you can get all your work on time, you might find it helpful to keep a to-do list or agenda with all the tasks you have to complete for the day. Allocate a specific amount of time to each task and try to concentrate on only doing that one thing for that period of time. Having a set structure and routine can go a long way in helping you be more productive and efficient in completing your work.

Of course, it’s also equally important that you remember to take breaks during your school day as well as your homework time. Sitting down and staring at a screen all day can be pretty damaging to your health; get up, take a walk, do some stretches or a workout -- a little exercise can go a long way.

COVID-19 is affecting my mental and emotional well-being.

When a new illness becomes a worldwide pandemic, the initial reaction is very much focused on our physical health -- hospitals make room for more patients, governments put measures into place to limit spread, and health organizations give us resources how to keep ourselves safe. While this is all understandable and important, we very often leave our mental and emotional health by the wayside when dealing with these kinds of emergency situations.

With all the news about the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s perfectly normal to feel anxious and scared about the disease and how it may affect you and the people around you. In addition, the social isolation mandated by the government to control the spread of the virus, while necessary, has caused many of us to feel lonely and disconnected. Staying at home all day with nothing to do except worry can have many negative consequences for our well-being.

As we go through this difficult and strange experience, it’s important for us to all remember to take care of ourselves. If you’re feeling lonely, try talking with members of your immediate family in your household, or call or text someone and have a nice conversation. If you’re bored, try picking up a new hobby or diving back into some old ones you may not have had time for because of school -- music, sports, art, reading, whatever it is you like to do. If you’re tired of being cooped up all the time, take a walk in your backyard or neighbourhood and see if you can notice something you’ve never seen before. If there’s something you really need to get off your chest, feel free to also reach out to us, your Jack Chapter exec, or our staff advisors Marleen and Mr. K. We are all here for you.

Stay strong and be well, UTS. We’re all in this together.

A look at what could happen if COVID-19 was dealt with more radically.

As the last shop closed in the streets of Italy, Sergio Mattarella roamed the street in solitude, reminiscing of the vibrant summer the city had once seen. He glanced toward the fountain in the center of the piazza Navona, where children had once blown bubbles and danced to the music of local buskers, feeling a sense of grievance and sorrow. Late the night before, Sergio had come across an idea that could be of benefit during the time of the virus, modelled after a strategy used by British Captain Arthur Phillip in the 1700s, upon founding Australia. However Sergio felt insecure about this idea, and thought it would be too radical for the masses to wrap their heads around. As Sergio silently debated the pros and cons of his seemingly outlandish idea, his phone rang, and upon lifting the receiver he discovered that the call was coming from Xi Jinping. After exchanging a few formalities, Sergio timidly brought up his tentative plans, to see how it might fare with a different government. After some tiptoeing and sugar coating, Sergio laid out the plan in full, meticulous detail and all, and to his surprise Xi seemed hopeful in regards to his ideas.

Sergio spent the better part of that week making calls to his peers such as Pedro Sanchez, Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau and Scott Morrison. While making these calls frightened Sergio as some of these people may pose barriers to his plans, with each successful call Sergio grew more and more confident in his idea and rushed to put the necessary systems in order. After a virtual meeting, during which Sergio had been eager to move along as to leave little time for doubt or hesitation, the plan was decided upon as the correct course of action, and Sergio felt as though he’d struck gold. Soon after the busy week of underground arrangements and phone calls, the plan was set in motion.

On the morning of March 26th, 2020, Dr. Anthony Faucci announced on CNN to millions of viewers worldwide, “on behalf of the world health organization I would like to announce the new system that will be put in place in order to eradicate the virus world wide. This system will require all patients presenting with flu-like symptoms to be sent in multiple 1000 people capacity ships to Tetepare island in the south Pacific, effective immediately". Viewers were stunned. Men and women froze sitting in front of their TVs with their mouths hanging open, doctors in hospitals gathered in break rooms to listen to the small TVs mounted to the walls, in awe of what they’d just heard. Over the next few days spouses, parents and children wept in the agony of their loved ones being sailed thousands of miles away from them with little to no contact, indefinitely.

Soon after the departure of the first ships to the foreign island, countries all around the world went on to see a drastic drop in case numbers, even in the epicenters of the virus such as China and Italy. While those who were never infected went on to bask in the glory of resuming normal life, free of quarantine, those who had been shipped off to the faraway island of Tetepare were seemingly forgotten about to world health officials. When the question was finally raised many months later to the aloof world health organization, there was a long pause. Time seemed to have been suspended. While people driving to work listening to the radio they held their breath in suspense until the ominous voice reappeared.

“There were no survivors left on the island”.