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COVID-19 in London, Ontario

Collected Item: “Bored in the house and I’m in the house bored”

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Bored in the house and I’m in the house bored

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Sahar Sajjad

Date

May 25th 2020

How are you doing?

Better than I was last week. I’ve gotten into fitness which is wild because I’m the laziest person I know. Also, I paint now which is again such an unexpected hobby to pick up for me.

Are you isolating with someone else, if so who (relationships, not names i.e.. father, sister, roommates, spouse, your children etc.)?

My entire family. My mom, dad, brother and my brother and his wife (plus newborn child) have come to live with us as well.

How has COVID-19 affected your home life? How are you passing the time?

Everyone is home now so we’ve spent lots more time together and overall have gotten closer as a family. I’ve picked up some new hobbies such as baking, cooking, painting, fitness and craft making.

How has it affected your work, education, etc.? Are you an essential worker?

I had to write my final exams online, of course. That was interesting to say the least. My wifi has bad days sometimes so I was praying that it wouldn’t be slow during my exams. Thankfully, it wasn’t. As for my motivation during that period... well it was almost non existent. I was incredibly anxious about the state of the world. And on top of that, I never used to study in the house and would only study at the library to I found myself laying in bed on my phone for hours on end. Hopefully that’s something that will be fixed before the new school year starts. Fingers crossed.

What about the outbreak and response to it has you most concerned?

At first I felt fine because it was said that the majority of people to get COVID-19 were the elderly. Eventually though, I learned that no one was truly safe and I started getting worried for the health of my family. And then everyone started to panic buy everything in the stores and that gave off this apocalypse vibe that made me even more anxious.

Do you know someone who has or has had the virus? How has this affected them?

Thankfully, no.

How well do you think the government and other leaders are responding to the pandemic? What do you think about the local, national and international media coverage?

I think the media definitely scared everyone a little too much at first, hence the unnecessary panic buying. That definitely could’ve been handled better. But now that everyone knows about it and knows how to prepare for it just in case, it’s a lot more lowkey. I think the government is going an really good job at responding, especially with all of the benefits.

What challenges are ahead? How and how fast do you think normal life should be restored?

I wish I could say that normal life will be restored by August or September but that probably won’t happen. I think the challenge will most likely be how we are all going to go back to our normal lives. It definitely won’t be easy. We will view everything differently for the rest of our lives.

What do you think will be different after the pandemic? What do you think should be different? What will be better or worse?

People’s idea of cleanliness and sanitation will be different. I think people will be more aware than they were previous to it all. I even feel like when people meet up with their friends again there will be a sort of instinct to keep a distance.

Do you have anything else to say about the COVID-19 pandemic?

As much as I thought I would hate lockdown. It’s actually been a great way to get me to try and learn new things. I just hope by the end of this I am jacked as heck with all the fitness I’ve been doing.

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