I decided to get a job in the midst of the pandemic because I needed the money. I could not afford to pay off my school tuition, books, my car bill, and rent once the two jobs I had pre-pandemic were forced to close under the statewide shelter-in-place guidelines.
My options already scarce, I took a job working as a security guard at a local hospital. It seemed to work great with my schedule, and I already had a background working in security roles, plus, the pay was good.
I was told that the hospital and its staff were taking the proper precautions to ensure the safety of all employees via a screening process. The idea was that all patients had to pass a COVID-19 screen that included a temperature check and answering questions on a sheet of paper.
It wasn’t until I actually started working there that I realized the precautions taken were not good enough.
The screening process was inefficient from the start. High fever is not always present in COVID-positive patients.
This I would graciously learn as I battled the virus myself.
There were issues with honesty.
Many patients claimed that they had not been out of their homes prior to their visit, yet would later admit to attending gatherings with friends and family.
It was shocking to me how many people assumed that just because the people closest to them seemed healthy, it was safe to hang around them, completely disregarding the fact that COVID-19 is something that cannot be seen and is notorious for not showing symptoms for up to 14 days.
All over the hospital, I heard from nurses and coworkers that things would only get worse come holiday season.
However, I don’t think anyone predicted the severity of the situation until the weekend after Thanksgiving.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted a mass wave of COVID-19 cases after the holidays. What we saw at our hospital went beyond all expectations.
A coronavirus testing site that normally saw between 50-100 cars a day was now packed with sedans full of panicked people who were experiencing loss of breath, loss of taste and smell, and nausea. among others.
Nurses who administered COVID-19 tests were forced to pick and choose who was sick enough to be tested that day and who should wait until more tests were available. Security was tasked with escorting patients from the emergency room to one of the many coronavirus wards.
Eventually, those became full and patients would be escorted right to the ICU.
When that became full, patients were turned away.
It was around this time when I began to experience my first coronavirus symptoms. It was only a sore throat and a headache every now and then. Surely not a big deal, especially because I had just gotten my flu shot, and I was told I might feel a little sick for a few days.
I continued to work and thought nothing of it. I considered a COVID-19 test, but was told unless I had at least four of the symptoms I should wait.
There was also a sense of denial on my part. I thought that there was no way I could get it because I followed all of the protocols and only spent Thanksgiving with my immediate family.
A few days later, I was completely bedridden. I was constantly fatigued, my body ached, I lost my sense of taste and smell, and my sore throat had gotten worse. I knew I had to get tested immediately.
After receiving the news that I tested positive, I was dumbfounded. There was also a feeling of disappointment. I felt like I had done everything right and I still got it.
Soon, that disappointment turned into anger.
On social media, I saw bars packed with young people my age who did not wear masks and refused to social distance. I saw videos of people in Huntington Beach who denied the existence of the virus altogether.
I was invited to a “Pandemic Party” held in my hometown that strictly forbade attendants from wearing masks for the sake of having a good time.
All the while, L.A. County’s coronavirus numbers were skyrocketing as California recorded the most coronavirus deaths in a single day than had ever been seen anywhere in the world.
While I was struggling with memory loss, often a side effect of COVID-19, others were blatantly disregarding the guidelines that were implemented to ensure their safety.
This has got to stop. Californians, especially Angelinos, need to take the pandemic more seriously.
The brain fog I experienced was debilitating.
After bombing an important math exam because of the condition of my mental state, I was forced to drop my statistics class.
It was also humiliating. There were times I would be trying to complete assignments from different classes only to be interrupted with constant blanks in my memory.
Even basic words became difficult to recall. I cannot imagine how older people experiencing the same thing coped.
A study from Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center found that brain fog can be due to a systemic inflammation on the brain and the immune system within the brain, causing changes in the way the brain signals.
All of the signs are there that the coronavirus is not to be messed with.
So why don’t people care anymore? The answer is our leaders.
There have been 1.45 million COVID-19 cases in California since the beginning of the year.
Over 400,000 of those cases were from Los Angeles County alone.
Even with the shelter-in-place in full effect, over 8,000 Angelinos have died at the hands of this tragic disease.
The fact of the matter is, L.A. County is not taking the pandemic seriously enough and has directly contributed to the death of thousands of people.
Many more will die unless Gov. Gavin Newsom or Mayor Eric Garcetti enforce a serious lockdown that prevents people from leaving their shelter unless under extreme circumstances.
In the beginning of the shelter-in-place, the guidelines were less lenient than they are now. Most retail stores were closed except for those that were deemed essential.
Barber shops, nail salons, and gyms were closed for months as the nation tried to cope with our new reality. Outdoor dining was not a concept. Since most businesses were closed, this meant that the employees were at home in quarantine as they were told. The vast majority of Americans assumed that after a couple of weeks things would be back to normal.
Nine months later, we are still living in chaos. Except now, it feels like everyone has given up, including our leaders.
What was once an arguably effective way to keep L.A. County residents sheltered in place have gone down the drain. While COVID-19 cases continue to rise, businesses continue to re-open.
Thousands of L.A. County residents who were once safely sheltered in their homes have been forced back into their minimum wage jobs to provide services that are not necessarily essential.
Restaurants and non-essential retail stores should not be open at a time when an average of 75 people die in L.A. County per day due to the virus.
According to the official County of Los Angeles Public Health website, people between the ages of 18 and 49 are responsible for more COVID-19 cases than all of the other age ranges combined.
This could be due to the fact that they are expected to work through the pandemic instead of being allowed to shelter.
It’s not just that people are being dragged back to their previous job that’s the problem, it’s that for many people, going back to work is the only financial decision that makes sense right now.
The government provided a one-time stimulus check for $1,2000 at the very beginning of the pandemic. Since then, the House and the Senate have failed to agree on a financial plan leaving millions of Americans to fend for themselves.
According to the United States Census Bureau, 34 million Americans were living in poverty. The number has since increased due to the onset of the pandemic.
Mayor Garcetti and Gov. Newsom have not implemented strict enough stay at home orders.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva stated that he would not require his officers to enforce the shelter in place.
When I walk around Long Beach, I see people dining outside in closed-in tents that completely defeats the purpose of banning indoor dining.
Malls have begun to open up again due to the holiday season. Even though people were encouraged not to go Black Friday shopping, stores were still offering Black Friday deals.
On one hand, people should know better and should face criticism for their decisions.
On the other hand, they shouldn’t be able to make those decisions to begin with. If non-essential businesses were closed altogether we would not be seeing the rise in COVID-19 cases that we are seeing now.
Not only should our leaders close these businesses, but they should offer compensation for small business owners who risk going bankrupt trying to keep their business afloat.
Again, most of these businesses are only open because their owners desperately need the financial security.
It’s not fair for Americans to have to choose between making money or contracting the virus.
The U.S. government has failed the people. That does not mean California has to follow the same path.
Obviously, there are going to be people who refuse to adhere to guidelines meant to keep them safe.
It sucks being inside all the time and missing out on spending special occasions with the people you love most.
But, if you truly loved them, you should be willing to sacrifice physical contact until the virus is under control.
Had I spent Thanksgiving with my extended family, I could have easily exposed my grandma to COVID-19.
I have no idea how long I carried the virus before I became symptomatic. Neither will you.
Before you make that decision to ignore the stay at home order, be sure to think about the people around you.