By Hodon Yassin

I’m eighteen years old and it’s my senior year. I attend Whetstone High School. I’m also attending Columbus State for university. My hobbies include art, drawing, animation, etc.

Sadly, because of COVID-19, I couldn’t do as much of that as I would like.

COVID-19 stands for “Coronavirus Disease-2019”. It may have started in a supermarket in Wuhan, China. It has expanded to touch nearly every corner of the globe. Only one continent, Antarctica, is immune so far. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have been sickened and thousands of others have died. How many people

The World Health Organization has declared the virus a global health emergency and rated COVID-19’s global risk of spread and impact as “very high,” the most serious designation the organization gives. There are a total of 21,131 people in the US who have the disease and over 1,271 have died. As for the entire world, there are a total 3.94M people who have it and over 275K deaths. However, many have recovered from the illness. There are a total of 182K in the US and 1.32M in the world who survived.

Covid-19 is mainly caused by physical contact, such as high-fives, hugs, etc. But it is also an airborne virus that you can breath if someone close to you has coughed, or even flushed a toilet. Because of COVID-19 becoming even more intense, many schools closed down. My school was one of them. The absence was going to last through weeks, but because it got even worse than before, it was extended to the entire school year. In order to avoid many students getting the virus, they cancelled prom, the school play, etc.

The past three weeks had been alright. I mainly just drew my artwork, watched TV, spent time with my family, etc. The only times we exit the house is to run errands, such as grocery shopping. Still, my teachers give me and my classmates online work. I always worked hard on each assignment doing the best I could.

I even had my 18th birthday during quarantine. Turning eighteen means I was finally going to be an adult. I mainly just watch a movie, each tons of junk food, call my friends, etc. My grandmother even called me to sing “Happy Birthday”. It was an alright birthday.

I really hope they find a cure for this disease. Even if I can’t go outside, I grew closer with my family while in quarantine. I get to learn more about my cultural roots and talk to my loved ones online using Zoom. I also became even more calmer than before because of drawing and talking about my emotions with my family. It even warms my heart to hear that many people have defeated COVID-19 and thank doctors for their help. In conclusion, I hope they find a cure.