red line

Back when the pandemic first started, most, if not all, of my plans for the summer vacation were cancelled, with me mostly staying at home after face to face classes were suspended. My only connection with the outside world was with the occasional couriers who came to deliver goods.

The first time I heard news of COVID-19 was around the beginning of 2020: it was a Youtube video talking about a new “mystery” virus that was found in Wuhan, China. It wasn’t until February that the “mystery” illness I’d been hearing about was officially named “Coronavirus Disease 2019". Since then, a lot has changed. More cases were reported, and different measures were put in place by the government. Physical distancing rules, travel bans, contact tracing, temperature testing, and other safety measures were implemented around the world. At the same time, face masks, alcohol and hand sanitizer, and toilet paper all went up in demand and price.

It has been a surreal experience. Everything seemed to change quickly. It began with masks being required in school, then short suspension of classes, and suddenly, the abrupt end of the school year. I suddenly found myself in a sea of time, unsure of where to go. My summer plans, my supposed lifeboats, had all popped, and I was stuck aimless as lockdown began. 

As the pandemic became a global issue, things changed even further. Safety measures such as staying at home and wearing face masks when going outside were implemented; classes were suspended; online classes became a thing; other events like the Olympics were mostly either cancelled, delayed, or held online; many businesses had trouble; food delivery services and online shopping became more popular, etc. All of these became the “new normal”, and people have grown used to it.

It is now 2021. The holidays have just passed. Things like the prices of masks have settled down a bit. And now, we have even caught sight of the end of our school year. In a flash, five months have gone since we started attending online classes, and 9 months have passed since quarantine began. Time seems to have passed by so quickly, and yet so slowly.

The world is as of now slowly recovering from the pandemic with new cases of COVID-19 becoming less and less frequent, with closed shops slowly reopening and face-to-face interactions slowly returning. The COVID-19 pandemic, for a period of time, completely changed the “normal” we lived in. 

Things have changed since the pandemic started, and things will continue to change still. Nothing is yet set in stone as new developments are made and new information comes to light each day. The days keep passing, and time continues flowing, and we must walk into the unknown that tomorrow holds. So, as this new year unfolds, let us not forget the past, but embrace the future.