Introduction
The current COVID-19 pandemic brought several significant issues to the lives of the global community, affecting people’s physical and mental health, countries’ economies, and political stability worldwide. Healthcare organizations and clinicians were overwhelmed by the number of patients they could not help. Furthermore, many businesses had to close at the beginning of the pandemic, leaving millions of workers without jobs. The lockdown was challenging for many families that had to live in small apartments without the possibility to spend much time outdoors. My family also had to go through similar challenges during the period of strict regulations before the vaccinations started to be implemented this year when we finally received a chance to attend school and work. Some of our neighbors lost their jobs because of the pandemic. They later shared their stories about the difficulties that they had to undergo. Moreover, the upheaval of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement amid the pandemic proved the system’s unpreparedness for such disasters. Indeed, the ongoing coronavirus crisis complicated the lives of individuals and states, pushing many people to the extremes of risking their lives to protect their rights.
My Family’s Struggles During the Pandemic
Staying with my family during the lockdown was hard because we lived in a small house in Brooklyn, NY. Hence, it was challenging to concentrate on my education due to the need to take care of my mother and three younger sisters. As an older child, I felt responsible for helping my mother after losing our father nine years ago. Since the pandemic’s beginning, we agreed that everyone in the house would take necessary preventive measures to avoid the infection. Specifically, we all wore masks and gloves in public places, tried to purchase food and utensils online, and minimized social interactions. Initially, we viewed it as an opportunity to spend more time together, share our thoughts and feelings, and educate each other. Although my mother and I could return to work after our companies re-opened, we felt there was no privacy when all members were home every day. I was sliding towards depression, limiting communication with my family. Fortunately, I had to study a lot; thus, I did not develop clinical depression and returned to normal life soon after receiving the two doses of vaccination against the virus.
The Effect on the U.S. Healthcare System
The coronavirus pandemic revealed many flaws in the American healthcare system, showing its unpreparedness for such crises. The reports about the rising number of daily hospital deaths, staff shortages, and equipment insufficiency shocked our family and other citizens. Many people, who survived the infection, had to struggle with various symptoms of long COVID, including fatigue, shortness of breath, insomnia, heart palpitations, muscle weakness, and memory problems. Many of my mother’s friends who recovered from the acute illness complained about having two or more of these symptoms for several months. However, doctors could not prescribe them a definitive therapy because data about the pathophysiology of this condition in scientific reports were limited. Therefore, physicians did not know how to treat their patients.
Another problem in the healthcare system was the lack of personal protective equipment for the staff. I learned this information from social media posts of whistleblowers, who were later suspended from their hospital duties for discussing these issues online. This situation demonstrated that the organization’s prestige is more important for some administrators than the safety of its workers. It appears that the pandemic not only revealed particular problems in the system but also showed some leaders’ unethical behavior.
The Effect on the Economy
The lockdown resulted in an economic crisis development in many countries because many businesses had to close. Some of our neighbors and friends lost their jobs because their employers either went bankrupt or had to shorten the number of employees in the firms, significantly increasing the unemployment rate in the country. For example, one of my acquaintances had to return from San Francisco, CA, to Brooklyn, NY, because the start-up company she worked for closed soon after the lockdown was announced. She could not find a job for almost a year because many firms were hesitant to accept new workers during the pandemic. Still, she continued to search and was one of the first people I know who got the vaccine against Sars-CoV-2. It appears that the introduction of mass vaccination resulted in an improvement in the economic situation in the U.S. because many businesses could re-open. However, it is hard to predict what challenges the new viral variants can bring, but the hope is that herd immunity will help people’s lives to return to normal.
Social and Political Upheaval During the Pandemic
The pandemic was also complicated by social and political situations in the United States. The BLM movement went to the extremes last year, pushing thousands of African Americans to go to street demonstrations against police brutality and racial discrimination, risking being infected with the virus. The violent behavior of the participants and the police could harm the civilians. Still, the most significant problem was that they were putting each other’s health in danger.
The political situation was not straightforward either because the country’s leaders failed to respond to the spread of the infection in time. People were receiving puzzling messages from President Trump about the state of the pandemic and protective measures. Moreover, the elections showed that Americans were confused, but they no longer wanted to tolerate such incompetence in the face of the global crisis. Although the current state is still complex due to power struggles at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, the government seems to be more effective in responding to COVID-related issues.
Conclusion
In summary, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic disrupted the population’s lives worldwide, causing increased morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, the lockdown measures affected many countries’ economies because some companies went bankrupt, leading to a rise in unemployment. This situation was psychologically challenging for my family and me because we had to stay in a limited space together for an extended period. Similarly, our neighbors and friends experienced these difficulties, in addition to financial and health issues. Moreover, the pandemic became a severe test for the U.S. healthcare system that could not provide care to patients in need due to the lack of equipment and the shortage of hospital staff. Lastly, the social and political situation was also strained during the first year of the pandemic, resulting in incompetent governmental actions and violent demonstrations on the streets involving thousands of people across the United States. The hope is that the implementation of vaccination and attaining herd immunity will diminish the scale of this problem, allowing people to return to their pre-pandemic routines.