Day 8

I keep getting comments or questions about how bad COVID is out here. There is a lot of disbelief on the effects of the virus. Now there are riots over opening back up the economy.

All I can talk about is what I have seen. The virus is very real here in New York, the effects are devastating. In coming from Utah, I know that there aren't many cases there. I felt like I was not doing anything. I know so many people feel like isolating and social distancing has been for no reason. I will admit I was unsure if the media was exaggerating at some points.

Now, I just see us as lucky.

We haven't had to dig mass graves. Haul in semis to pile bodies in. Make decisions on who has a better chance of survival. Choose who gets care and who does not. That burden did not fall on our state.

Our demographic, spacing, and honestly just timing played in our favor. It helps that our population is more spread out, that our average age is lower, and our health is better than other states. We do not have the same tourism traffic as our coastal states. We got to watch and learn from what happened to them. We were able to prepare and put into place preventative measures.

I am so grateful we have not had any major surges. That all of my friends and family members have been safe. So thank you, for those of you who felt like you did not do anything. You made it possible for me and many others to have our people still here.

Eventually we will have to come out of our homes. Go back to our normal lives. I trust that our leaders - political, epidemiological, and healthcare will help us in that transition. Personally, we are in control of washing our hands and other methods to help us stay healthy. Things we should have been doing all along, but I am sure we will even more so now.

Britt.