In Connecticut and across most of the globe, societies went from open one day and completely shut down the next. Something our generations are not used to living in: a pandemic. 

     On March 13, 2020 every student in Connecticut was ordered to stay home for two weeks, not knowing it would be five months. This is when quarantine began. 

     Grocery stores were empty, people were getting very ill, Connecticut was a hotspot state, curbside pick-up only, hair salons shut down, and more. 

     Now, as of November 2020, CT has rolled back from phase 3 and entered phase 2.1 due to a spike in Covid-19 cases. Phase 2.1 involves a decrease of indoor restaurant dining to 50%, indoor and outdoor gatherings can only have 10 people maximum, outdoor graduations do not have a capacity as long social distance and mask orders are followed, and more. 

     As of November 10, 2020 there were 1,524 new Covid-19 cases in CT according to the New York Times.

     Many families and people have been affected by Covid-19 in Connecticut, whether it be severe or not. 

     A Milford student who contracted the virus said, Covid-19 has impacted my family so much because my parents can’t go to work and if they can’t go to work then they can’t provide for me and my siblings. Also we have to quarantine so we can’t leave the house at all , we have to wash everything we touch, and stay in our rooms all day.”

     Although this student has the virus, many other students are dealing with the virus impacts in other ways.

     Sophomore Mallory Janik said, “Covid-19 has impacted my family because we created a much stronger bond through our time together in quarantine. We learned to appreciate each other, have more fun together, and be there for each other during difficult times. It set us back from doing things we usually do, such as going out to dinner, but together we made the best of it.”

     Senior Maci Pastir says, “Covid-19 affected us greatly since my dad is a first responder he got to see kind of what was going on in the world when none of us did and it was crazy like how many precautions he had to take.”

     Some citizens of Connecticut believe the virus was handled poorly by state officials and some believe CT handled it very well. 

     Janik believes, “CT  has handled the pandemic well because our state is amongst those with the lowest number of cases and they’ve set many guidelines to prevent the spread.”

     Pastir says, “I actually do think Connecticut handled the pandemic well considering we are still in school and we have not been a high risk state for awhile.”

     The student that tested positive mentioned, “What I hope to see for the future is that there will be a vaccine for Covid-19 so nobody has to go through the pain that I am going through, because the symptoms aren’t fun to have.”

     All the citizens have to look forward to is the future and the virus disappearing. Connecticut’s cases have significantly gone down, but there are still ways to go in order to prohibit the spread. 

     Janik says, for the future, “I hope that Covid-19 dies down and we develop a way to prevent the spread so that life doesn’t revolve around it and it won’t affect how we go about our daily lives. I want things to get as back to normal as possible.”