As a student who was exposed to the COVID-19 virus, I had to be quarantined for 14 days. Quarantine may sound fun for those who don’t want to go to school, but in actuality, it is very much not fun.
First of all, the only work you can do is on Chromebook, so when you get back to school you will have a bunch of makeup paperwork ready for you to take home and get done. When I was quarantined, it was during the second and third weeks of school, meaning I didn’t have too much work in general, but I missed out on signing in to the online textbooks and classroom programs. Getting back to school and getting all of the work that you missed can be overwhelming, but it’s important to go through and get work done class by class so it’s easier to focus and get it done.
Another thing that I experienced during my time in quarantine, was having to carefully plan our meals. We were notified of having to quarantine before we went grocery shopping, and had to plan out what we had at the house to eat so it would last. Some friends of my mother were kind and offered to drop off some things at our porch if we needed it. Around halfway through our quarantine, we discovered that we could use the Walmart pick up system to get things that we needed. The Walmart pick up system worked by letting us order what we needed from the house, and then come to Walmart and pick it up the next day. It worked well, and a lot of effort went into making sure that everyone was safe.
Having a good community surrounding you and offering to help makes quarantine go by quicker. As mentioned before, my mom’s friends were always eager to help drop off things at our front porch, without contact of course. I had friends texting me updating me on classroom work that I had missed out on, and helping me through it if I needed it. The teachers were also super helpful, sending emails out explaining the work, and one of my sister’s teachers even called her over the phone to help her set up her online math websites.
One thing that I did notice, though, was the inconsistency with the health department. We were constantly told different things each time we called, whether it be if we get tested or not, how long we stayed home, when that time started, and if that time varied between each of our family members. The final decision was staying home for 14 days, starting from when you last came in contact with that person. They also made us do daily temperature checks and submit it to them, but only made a few of my family members do it. Because we were all in contact with the person who had COVID during different days, we will all be coming back to school and work on different days as well.
Overall, I feel like there are some faults with the quarantine system, but Duncan is working hard to get everything together. Quarantine also gives you lots of opportunities to learn new skills and try new things, but make sure you still get all of the school work done as you can.
Stay safe and wear a mask
