While going grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, I was surprised to see this green bean display that people were going through with uncovered hands. Though most of the bulk goods at WinCo have been partitioned into pre-packaged bags, some of the produce is still open for people to touch. I know that COVID isn't highly transmissible via surface contact, but it was still off-putting to see people touching food that others would eat. I'll be washing my vegetables more thoroughly after seeing this!

Oaks Amusement Park in Portland, Oregon has been closed for the 2020 season, and looks eerie and empty. It looks abandoned and gives off mega haunted Scooby Doo type vibes. The park petitioned Governor Kate Brown for permission to reopen, but have not received permission as of November 2020.

Several counties across Oregon have coordinated with local motels to establish voluntary isolation shelters in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19. Each location is staffed with city personnel to manage admittance and discharge, while EMTs on staff conduct routine medical monitoring to patients. My boyfriend works in one of these shelters, and sent me this picture of him in his full PPE getup before making morning rounds. The shelter's capacity varies a lot week by week, and anywhere from 1-20 COVID positive patients may be staying there at any given point. This particular motel intakes prisoners who need to do a 2 week quarantine before being released, but also serves non-incarcerated people who have tested positive.

David John McKenney lived in rural Michigan for most of his life. In this interview, David reflects upon the challenges that COVID-19 wrought on the rural school districts for which he works. He describes how he and his coworkers wrote code that helped transition students to remote learning and saved other districts countless hours of labor. David also touches upon his experience in Ukraine and the flu quarantine that occurred there seasonally. He contrasts this with the current American quarantine and highlights his concerns about freedoms of speech in reference to lockdowns. His concerns about freedoms of speech also extends to the future of Christianity and the church. He expresses his anger about the 2020 election season. In addition, David discusses his frustration with rioting in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. David remarks on the shift in real estate from urban areas to suburban areas and the rise in construction. Finally, David comments on his participation in pandemic trends (such as baking bread) and increased time spent with family.

I chose the photograph of a closed store sign because during this pandemic a lot was changed due to the given circumstances. At the beginning of Covid, everything was closed that was not essentials, due to that I stayed without a job. I was unemployed and was receiving no alternative sources of income. This was scary to think about as there were bills that had to be payed and working at a new job could have put you at risk of catching this newly formed infection. Going to the stores that were open were also a different and frightening experience, there were so many people not social distancing at the grocery stores and etc who were not even wearing masks or using gloves that it was putting yourself in danger just for going out to buy the basics needed for living. Now a few months later, more places are opening but the question is, is this a good or a bad thing? I am now reemployeed, but I am getting paid the same as I used to even though I am risking my life each and every day coming in contact with hundreds of people a day, cleaning restrooms and making sure im well protected at all times. Still nothing can go back to normal, people cannot just go to the fair or the movies or skating as they could before this part of soon to be history because of its risks. It is important to stay safe and to continue to push through these times so that one does not just become a statistic in a book of the many of millions that have died during theses times due to Covid-19.

My first few weeks of college consisted of going to restaurants with new friends and exploring the city outside (masked, of course.)

Meme joking about body shape changing during the quarantine. The first week, trying to be healthy and doing exercise, might lose some weight; the second week, stop exercising but still trying to eat healthy food, gain some weight but still skinnier than the beginning; the third week, quit healthy food and gain more weight; the fourth week, the only thing that can let me leave my couch is to use the bathroom and get food delivery.

Throughout this pandemic, I understood the importance of wearing your mask, staying isolated and social distanced to help protect yourself and others. I hadn't been directly affected by COVID besides my work and school closing, but my health was great and I didn't need to worry about my safety regarding COVID. My mom on the other hand, was considered high risk. Being a cancer survivor, and having other medial issues stemming from surgeries and treatments, I did what I could to protect her. In October of 2020, she was admitted into MAYO Clinic ICU for surgery complications. I flew up the next day, and had to say goodbye with my dad. It was the hardest thing I've gone though in my almost 20 years of life. My mom was my rock, and the COVID precautions, although necessary and I understood them, made me angry. While saying goodbye, I had to put on what seemed like a hazmat suit. I had to wear a gown, gloves, mask, and face shield so that I could safely be by my moms side in her final hours. I am all for protecting everyone around me, and I understood the precations, but I was angry, not at the hospital or the nurses or doctors, but at the reality of the world. Due to COVID, I can't imagine the vast amount of people who aren't even allowed to be with their family members, and I am so eternaly grateful I was able to be with my mom, but I'm allowed to be angry, and I haven't let myself accept that yet. For now, I'll be working through my days one day at a time, and working through trying to not feel guilty that I was able to be with my mom when so many others weren't. I miss her everyday.

The NU.in program is a study abroad program by Northeastern University. This year, students had the option to travel to Canada, London, or Ireland. While NU.in Ireland remained a location, the pandemic made it so traveling to Canada or London was no longer possible. Students had an option to either travel to Ireland, Boston, or remain at home. NU.in Boston students were housed in a hotel twenty minutes or so away from campus. While living conditions were pleasant, it was definitely not what many students were expecting from being a part of a study abroad program. Not only were students studying from a place they might not have prepared for, the health restrictions made it difficult for some to meet new people and really familiarize themselves with campus life. The pandemic has really impacted how students work through college. Covid tests are required of in person Northeastern students every three days. While classrooms are open for a limited amount of students, majority of the students are participating online since the teachers are joining the online meetings from home. While these changes are not very drastic, they do take some time to adapt to.

When COVID-19 began to affect everyone's daily lives including mine, I was not happy with the adjustments we had to make over the summer. Wearing masks and not being able to see certain people got really annoying. However, as time passed on, I learned to deal with the requirements needed in order to enjoy life again. Yes, we may have to wear masks and social distance, but at least businesses are open. We can still do all the things we use to do, only with a few guidelines implemented. Most people thought this pandemic was the beginning of the end of the world. But I believe this pandemic has made us stronger. We as humans are able to handle any negative impact that comes our way. Sometimes life can be challenging, but we will always find a way to get through it.

This is WuHan in September. The filmer recorded nightlife in Wuhan, the city is recovering from the pandemic and people are excited to get back their normal life.

This is a TikTok video filmed by residents in Wuhan during the quarantine. They opened the window and asked neighbors if someone wants to make friends and have conversations in real life.

China's daily report on cases of COVID-19. On November 27, the nation had 6 confirmed cases, all are imported cases. No native cases were found on this day. Until this day, there are 285 confirmed cases in the nation that are still in hospitals and receiving treatments.

Colleges in China are under lockdown, no students can leave the campus unless with special circumstances or personal business. The Ha'erbin Province had its first snow in the winter, students were very excited that they can have snow fight had it brought some entertainment as they got limited entertainment on campus. Over 200 students and teachers came out and played together.

The Pandemic brought validity to my new teaching career while challenging my family structure and stretching my financial resources. I am a middle school teacher and I have taught both virtually and in person for over 4 years when the Pandemic hit. I was lucky enough to be teaching virtually with an accredited online school when the Pandemic hit, so my work life was not disrupted like so many other teachers. However, a strange thing happened when millions of teachers were forced to teach online, my career move to online teacher was validated. So often I had heard other teachers scoff when they found out I moved from teaching in a brick and mortar classroom to teaching in a virtual classroom. Often I would get remarks such as, "that is not real teaching" and how "great it must be to have a super easy teaching gig". I would try and tell them that teaching virtually was actually more challenging than teaching in the classroom. How do I get students to actually work when I am not in front of them? How do I ensure that students are learning and not just searching the internet for the answers? How do I meet my students social/emotional needs when we are all virtual? How do I connect with them? How do I create a virtual classroom that is a a safe space when there is no physical space? What happens when my students computers break or their internet gets shut down? Teaching virtually has challenged me in ways in person teaching could not even come close too. It was all too real when the pandemic hit and schools were forced to all operate virtually. Now they were faced with challenges they were not prepared for, at least I worked for a school that invested in remote teaching for over 20 years. Somehow, almost overnight, I was flooded with questions from former colleagues and acquaintances asking how to handle virtual teaching. Suddenly I became a valued resource and my teaching skills as an online educator were validated. No more was I seen as taking the "easy route" and "not actually teaching", as they enjoyed telling me. Now, I was a teacher who was ahead of the game and had valuable insight and information to give them. I have school aged children of my own, so I really felt for their teachers when they were suddenly and unceremoniously shoved into online teaching without a life vest. This pandemic has been a strange experience of both fear and validity. Finally being recognized by my fellow teachers and the state education board as being a valued, hardworking, educated teacher was not what I expected to come out of the pandemic.

During the pandemic I have been manic at times and used that energy to make some comic, inspirational videos - the result is the Squat Deeper Workout Series.

I was serving in the Norwegian Army when COVID-19 came onto the scene. My base, Skjold Leir, was one of the first places in Europe to react to the virus. Immediately after it was perceived as a threat, my base shut down, and put the soldiers into quarantine, leaving us stuck inside our rooms in the barracks. My company, which was a part of the Engineer Battalion, had spent the last two weeks preparing for Cold Response 2020, a major international military exercise, meant to train and expose soldiers from all over the world to the severe elements of Troms, in the north of Norway. This event was unfortunately canceled, due to the newly arisen threat of the CoronaVirus. The members of my squad and I got stuck in our rooms quarantining for five days. We tried to keep ourselves occupied to pass the time. We began to hear news of mass lockdowns taking all over Europe, with the United States closely following suit. Although there were some who were hopeful that this might be over by Easter, it became quite apparent that things would not get better any time soon. After our quarantine, there was a malfunction in one of the gates at the back of the base. The gate would not close, so more soldiers were needed on both day- and night-shifts to ensure that our base was not compromised. The entire base needed to be patrolled constantly as well. This assignment lasted two weeks. I was chosen to serve on the night-shift. I found it extremely difficult to adjust my internal clock to stay awake all night and sleep during day-light hours. At times, I found myself sleepwalking while standing in front of the main entrance, not among one of my most proud moments. Thankfully, we were assigned partners, and we were instrumental in helping each other in staying awake and focused. Although the first few nights of the night-shift had been rough for us, we quickly adjusted to it. It would not be until after we were done with our two-week overnight-shift that the gate finally got fixed. Fortunately for us, however, we managed to find a way to seal it shut during the night, thus lessening the workload. After our two week shift was over, we quickly began with our normal routines. Other than the local gym and movie theater being closed, as well as each barrack in our base needing to take turns going to the mess hall to have breakfast and dinner, business was still running as usual. An unfortunate consequence of the pandemic was that soldiers could not leave base, which meant that all of our vacations were cancelled. For some of us, this would be a trying period, as the pressure of being trapped in base for so long without going home increased the amount of depression in our squad. My base took some preventative measures to keep its soldiers content and motivated. They organized sport events, as well as other fun things to keep us preoccupied, some of which I helped to set up and run. This, unfortunately, would not be enough for a few of the soldiers on base. Some of them ended up quitting the army, sheerly out of the stress caused by not seeing their loved ones for months on end. Even I at some point had a brief panic attack, as the pressure of being in this same place for so long affected my morale. I am proud to say that I managed to pull myself back together, and refused to quit. I was determined to see my obligatory service in the Norwegian Military through to the end. For all our extraneous duties, we were awarded with a two week leave. To finally come home after many months of service was a great joy. I was so happy to see my parents, my brothers, my friends, as well as my dogs. I also brought with me a great sense of pride and accomplishment.

The "travel bubble" planned between Hong Kong and Singapore has been postponed due to a spike of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong.

During the COVID-19 pandemic school year, things have changed. A staple in school has always been the yearbook. This year the yearbook for my niece's school is running into problems. The school is required to pay a certain amount for a contract with the company apparently. Considering most kids are attending via virtual school their not much as far as in school pictures. I wonder how badly yearbook companies as a whole are getting hit this year.

This year in fantasy football provides a new challenge. How to deal with players who contract COVID-19. The app shows a cov symbol by the player's image.

Interesting how Donald Trump was given experimental treatments for his COVID-19 incident but Vladimir Putin is not allowed to take the Russian vaccine. This is not a good look for the vaccine. Understandable though you wouldn't want the head of state taking an experimental drug barring a critical circumstance

It's good to see Israeli soldiers following COVID-19 health protocols whilst forcibly removing Palestinians from their land. Safety first, machine guns to kill any human resisters, and masks to prevent COVID-19 infections.

The UK is setting plans to allow visitors to come to the UK after taking a Covid-19 test. This is a huge step considering the country has been under a major travel ban and had been requiring individuals to partake in a 14-day quarantine. This new testing protocol is great for those wanting to see family and loved ones in the UK.

Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in America and President Trump recently testing positive for the virus, the second presidential debate was canceled. It was interesting to see that during such an important election, one of the presidential debates could not happen.

Tokyo continuously has increasing number of severe symptoms patient of COIVD-19. Despite this, Japan still wants to make the economy running, and all the restaurants are not taking proper CDC measures. Japan’s restaurants tend to be way smaller compared to here, and therefore opening one seat or a table apart from each other does not really help. Tokyo continuously has increasing number of severe symptoms patient of COIVD-19. Despite this, Japan still wants to make the economy running, and all the restaurants are not taking proper CDC measures. Japan’s restaurants tend to be way smaller compared to here, and therefore opening one seat or a table apart from each other does not really help.

In order to take measures for COVID-19, the Prime Minister will help restaurants if they reduce the hours open. However, by Japanese law, they cannot force this rule. All the measures taken are always, “We would like you to follow” and it depends on how the citizens act instead of the government’s rule. 菅総理大臣は新型コロナウイルス対策として東京、大阪などの各都市で今週末から営業時間を短縮したすべての飲食店に協力金を支給する方針を表明しました。 　菅総理大臣：「札幌市、東京都、大阪市、名古屋市でも飲食店の時間短縮を今週末から行う。時間短縮に協力するすべての店舗に対して国としてしっかり支援をしていきたい」 　また、感染拡大地域の保健所に派遣する保健師などの専門職について「これまでの倍の1200人を確保した」と明らかにしました。そのうえで、「3週間が極めて重要な時期だ」と強調し、マスクの着用など感染防止対策の徹底を呼び掛けました。 Prime Minister Suga has announced a policy to provide cooperation money to all restaurants whose business hours have been shortened from this weekend in cities such as Tokyo and Osaka as a countermeasure against the new coronavirus. Prime Minister Suga: "We will shorten the time for restaurants in Sapporo, Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya from this weekend. We would like to support all the stores that cooperate in shortening the time as a country." Regarding professional occupations such as public health nurses dispatched to health centers in areas where the infection has spread, he said, "We have secured 1,200 people, twice as many as before." Based on his comments, he emphasized that "three weeks is an extremely important time," and called for thorough infection prevention measures such as wearing masks. Video translated by Youngbin Noh

As the pandemic began, the shortage of toilet paper became quite severe. Several people were unable to get get a hand on a package of toilet paper, leading them to desperate measures of cutting up paper towels in order to substitute the toilet paper.

A year never to forget and the most unusual Christmas holiday experience, or lack thereof. To memorialize our 2020 holiday season, we illustrated the mask mandate in force wearing holiday attire for our Christmas picture.

This is a documentary of Wuhan in quarantine in February. The whole city was empty, no one was allowed to be on the street except volunteers who deliver food to each household, healthcare workers, volunteers from other cities of the nation, and reporters. The city has over 10 million population and everyone followed the stay-at-home order together to fight the covid-19.

This is a documentary of Wuhan when the COVID-19 first explored in February on Chinese TikTok. The city was under strict quarantine, no one can leave the house except healthcare workers and volunteers. This short documentary video recorded people trying to call the hotline in the City Hall, saying that their family members had covid and they need help. It breaks me that they sounded so desperate and these were all real stories.

Former president snapshots

Perception over truth

As a 76 year old grandmother, I never felt the need to learn all of the new and fancy technologies. I would occasionally use my daughter's facebook to check up on friends and family but that was about it. Most of my time was spent visiting with friends or working at the local Church. This all came to an end with COVID obviously, and especially since myself and my friends are considered very high risk. My grandsons showed me a way to watch all my favorite movies and shows on my laptop. This has been an excellent way to pass the time, as well as a new way to connect with my grandsons during this trying time.

I have experienced a rollercoaster of emotions and many new situations during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Washington State, there were many people cases of COVID reported before mid-March. For weeks, there was a buzz around my high school about the possibility of us doing online school. As a senior in high school, I was excited to have an extra week of spring break because the senior-itis was starting to kick in. On March 11, 2020, my school announced that we were going to be sent home and get an extra week or two of spring break. Even though they said it was just going to be an extra-long spring break, we brought all of our school work and supplies home in case we were online for a longer time. In the beginning, I remember my friends and I talked about how we would hang out every day and do online school together. We had many ideas of how we would spend the time together by going to coffee shops, and we even considered figuring out a way to all be together in Hawaii. Little did we know that this pandemic was going to be a much larger problem than we had expected. About a week or two into quarantine, we stopped believing that COVID would only affect the elderly, and we learned more about how we could spread the virus. Naturally, my family went into lockdown mode, and we did not see anyone else except for our "germ circle" for months. When Washington went into lockdown, my senior-year activities got canceled. Unlike other high schools, we did not have a traditional homecoming ceremony or football game because we were an all-girls high school. Because we did not have a big homecoming celebration, all of our senior-year traditions were towards the end of the year. The weekend we went into lockdown, we were supposed to have our senior-skip day. I was also supposed to help host a retreat for my school that weekend after preparing for it for months. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lot of hope that by May, we would have our Senior Class Day assembly, prom, and graduation. As cases, deaths, and hospitalizations grew, these events ended up being virtual. While it was not enjoyable to be missing these events I had been looking forward to, I still managed to find ways to make the most of quarantine. I went to school every day from eight in the morning to two in the afternoon. It was nice having school online because I could do most of my work in class or between classes, so then I could have my afternoons free to talk to my friends or hang out with my family and my dogs. My family got to spend cherished time together during quarantine before I went to college. My family went on a lot of hikes and bathed our dogs a lot. It was easy to stay in touch with my close friends over FaceTime. We spent a lot of time on Netflix Party, and we Face Timed almost every lunch period. We spent many days learning TikTok dances, baking bread, muffins, and pizza, and trying to get our old Nintendo DS to work. As quarantine went on, it became more evident that I would probably not be going abroad for my first semester of college. I was going to go to Dublin, Ireland, but in June, I switched to going to London. Unfortunately, these locations closed, so I ended up going to Boston. I am very grateful that my university opened a program in Boston, so I did not have to do my first semester of college from home. Throughout the summer, I worked on picking classes, trying to meet people online, and packing up my things for college. The idea of going to college gave me something to be excited about, and I was more confident about the chances of my university remaining open. My university put many systems in place, such as getting tested every three days, not allowing indoor dining at first, and having more places to study for social distancing. Besides getting ready for college, during the summer, I spent more time with my friends as restrictions started to be less strict. I self-quarantined for two weeks, and then three of my closest friends and I went to Oregon for the weekend to stay in my friend's family cabin. It was very nice to spend time alone with my friends and still be isolated because we did not go out very much and we only spent time together. I also spent most of my time making cloth masks for my family, friends, and elderly neighbors. It was nice to have a project that made me feel like I was making a difference. During the pandemic, I kept seeing photos and videos of healthcare workers struggling with the lack of PPE and the immense amount of COVID hospitalizations. As a student who is studying to be a nurse, I felt so helpless staying home and not being in a hospital being able to help people. Eventually, the back-to-school season came around, and I got ready to make the cross-country move to Boston. My mom and I packed up all of my things, got our COVID tests, and headed to the east coast. Surprisingly, it felt somewhat safe to travel, and the hotel we stayed in had a lot of safety precautions. When I arrived, I got my COVID test, picked up my ID, and moved into my dorm. Due to all of the restrictions, my mom and I had to say goodbyes outside of my dorm. Then, I was alone in a new city, and it was the start of a strange first semester of college. First, I was living in a hotel in the middle of the city. It was so nice to have such a big room and not share a bathroom with 20 other people, but surprisingly, living in a hotel is not like "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." Without a way to be able to make food, I always had to go to campus to get food, even if I did not have any in-person classes. I spent a lot of time studying in the library to try and get out of my room, but it was often tiring because I always had to wear a mask and couldn't collaborate with others. I spent a lot of time adjusting to my new life and college classes. While I only took general education courses, it was still an adjustment to taking some fully asynchronous classes and taking rigorous courses after having easier, online high school courses. Despite these challenges, I eventually fell into a routine, and I spent a lot of time exploring Boston. My program put on a lot of socially distanced activities to help us to get to know the city. I went to the aquarium, some museums, and I went on a trip to Cape Cod. All of these activities were experiences I would not have usually considered doing. I also explored the city by myself. I walked the Freedom Trail, went to Cambridge, and went on walks through the green spaces around the city. I loved being in a new city, but this semester was also very lonely. Even though I made a few close friends, it is hard to make new friends while being safe with the COVID restrictions. I tried to have a positive attitude about this situation, but it was often difficult to think about how this first semester of college could have been. It was strange to think that I could have been in a foreign country and traveling to other countries during breaks. I often thought about how there would be more people spending time in each other's rooms and people stopping by each other's rooms if we kept our doors open. I am lucky that I could be on campus in Boston this semester because I got to join a service fraternity called Alpha Phi Omega. Through that pledging process, I got to meet many upperclassmen and other first-year students, and I got to be involved in the Boston community. Now, I am home for the holidays, but I am even more worried about COVID because cases are rising. There is some hope on the horizon with the progress that the vaccines have been making. I am hopeful that my future semesters in college will be better, and I hope that people will continue to be safe and protect each other.

________ is a sophomore at S. Mary's University. He was able to sit down over zoom and do an interview with me to talk about his experience of online learning during the pandemic. He goes into depth about the changes in the class structures and the changes in his college experience.

"1816 has been described as "The Year Without a Summer." For me, 2020 has been like "The Year Without a Year." It has been like being in "Limbo," a year of Purgatory, the "Trump Bardo" - that intermediate state where you weather a s**t-storm of hypocrisy, lies, and disease before passing on to the next level of existence. How do I weather it? With humor, a lyrical outlook, exercise, perseverance, and family." -Dan Nave

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This is a news where Mitsui Sumitomo Banking Corporation, one of the biggest Banking Corporation in Japan, made the bank stores much more convenient and less clustered. Personally, I felt this was very slow in terms of technology, because compared to countries such as Korea, Japan always were analog with how they organized the bank and putting money. 銀行の順番待ちも窓口前でずっと待つ必要がなくなります。 　三井住友銀行が新たに開設した店舗では番号札を取った客がその場にいる必要がなく、店内が混雑して「密」な状態にならないようにします。また、窓口で現金の受け渡しをしません。高額の入金などは、客は電子サインの後にQRコードを受け取り、高性能なATMを使います。三井住友銀行は全体の約7割をこうした店舗にする計画です。 You don't have to wait in front of the counter to wait for the bank. At the store newly opened by Mitsui Sumitomo Banking Corporation, the customer who picked up the number tag does not need to be in the store, so that the store will not be crowded and become "clustered". In addition, cash will not be delivered at the counter. For large deposits, customers receive a QR code after an electronic signature and use a high-performance ATM. Mitsui Sumitomo Banking Corporation plans to make about 70% of all stores like this. Video Translated by Youngbin Noh

This is ChongQing Art Gallery. It was re-opened to the public in summer and everyone must obey the mandatory mask rules and pass the temperature test at the entrance. No food or drink are allowed in the gallery to prevent people taking their masks off.

This is a Japanese news of reporting on how many cases we have currently. アメリカのジョンズ・ホプキンズ大学の集計によりますと、新型コロナの死者が24日、世界全体で140万人を超えました。 去年は結核による死者数が140万人で、感染症の中では最多でしたがそれを上回るのは確実で最大の脅威となっています。 新型コロナの感染は10月以降、世界各地で急激に再拡大していて感染者数は6,000万人に迫る勢いで増えています。 According to data from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, the death toll of the new corona exceeded 1.4 million worldwide on the 24th. Last year, the death toll from tuberculosis was 1.4 million, the highest among infectious diseases, but it is certain and the greatest threat to surpass it. Since October, the infection of the new corona has rapidly re-expanded around the world, and the number of infected people is increasing at a rate approaching 60 million. Video Translated by Youngbin Noh

The capital and my home town, Tokyo, has started to have increased number of COVID-19 cases. It is because Japan is doing this GO TO travel campaign and trying to live as if COVID-19 is not happening. From my perspective, they are focusing more on the economy and trying to make Japan look as if it is fine for the Olympics, rather than focusing on the actual citizen’s health. 東京都は25日、新型コロナウイルスの新規感染者が401人確認され、重症者が54人になったと発表しました。重症者の数は2日連続で緊急事態宣言解除後の過去最多を更新しました。 　都内の重症者数は前日よりも3人増えて54人となりました。2日連続で緊急事態宣言解除後の過去最多を更新したことになります。また、80代から90代の男女3人の死亡も確認されました。重症者の急増などを受けて都は島しょ部を除き、お酒を提供する飲食店などに対して午後10時までの営業時間の短縮を要請することを決めました。期間は28日からの20日間としています。 The Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced on the 25th that 401 new cases of coronavirus infection were confirmed and 54 people were seriously ill. The number of seriously ill people reached a record high for the second consecutive day after the state of emergency was lifted. The number of seriously ill people in Tokyo increased by 3 from the previous day to 54. This is the second consecutive day that we have updated the record high since the state of emergency was lifted. In addition, three men and women in their 80s and 90s were confirmed dead. Due to the rapid increase in the number of seriously ill people, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to request restaurants that serve alcohol to shorten its business hours by 10 pm, except for the restaurants in the islands (that are still in Tokyo province). The period is from 28th of this month to 20th of December. Video translated by Youngbin Noh

中国で初めてワクチンの市場への供給許可が申請されました。 　中国メディアによりますと、国有の製薬大手「シノファーム」は7月からすでに緊急的な投与を開始している開発中の新型コロナウイルスのワクチンについて、市場への供給許可を当局に申請しました。シノファームは現在、南米のペルーなどで最終となる第3段階の臨床試験をしていて、当局はこの結果を踏まえて許可を出すとしています。シノファームは「100万人近くにワクチンを緊急投与したが、深刻な副作用の報告は1件もなく、ほんの少数に軽度の症状がみられた」と説明しています。 For the first time in China, an application of license to supply vaccines to the market has been put in. According to the Chinese media, the state-owned pharmaceutical giant "Sinofarm" has applied to the authorities for permission to supply the new coronavirus vaccine under development, which has already started emergency administration since July. Shinofarm is currently conducting the final third-stage clinical trials in Peru and other parts of South America, and the authorities will issue a permit based on this result. "We urgently administered the vaccine to nearly one million people, but there were no reports of serious side effects, and only a few had mild symptoms," explains Shinofarm. Video translated by Youngbin Noh

From November 1st of 2020, foreign residents who have valid residency in Japan who currently are outside finally can come into Japan just like normal citizens. Before this regulation, foreign residents such as permanent residence holders had to get this “the Letter of Confirmation of Submitting Required Documentation for Re-entry into Japan” or “Receipt for Request of Re-entry” from the closest Japanese embassy. On the other hand, Japanese citizen just need to come in with a valid negative result. This applied to me, where I could not go back because that would mean I had to go to LA’s Japanese embassy to get the form, and then go back to Japan. Now, I could go back to japan, if I have a “certificate of negative result”. However, I opened the file, and it turns out I would need a signature from a medical institution and a doctor. All students from ASU can get free test from ASU, but it is not a medical institution. This means I would have to go to other places that can give me this signature, which is not that easy for me.

Just finished online class in China. It was 5 am and being in a different time zone to take online classes was miserable and challenging. Daytime means wake up and start a new day for others, however, it means go to sleep and finish a exhausted day for me and other international students who take classes from their home country.

To promote local economy and save the restaurants from depression due to COVID-19, the local government organized a night market for a week for the public. Restaurants can have a booth and sell their foods for a lower price than normal. Many people came to the event to celebrate. It represents the beginning of dine-in in restaurants and safety for public gathering.

As COVID-19 cases at universities surge, universities have started to hire students to help with contact tracing.

I think one of biggest impacts of COVID for me has been wondering if, or when, someone close to me will contract the virus. A fear that at times can be intense or foreboding, and at other times, that fades into feeling ‘normal.’ It was several months into the pandemic before I knew of anyone who knew someone that was ill. More recently a couple of family members had very serious cases of the illness, and a couple more that tested positive but had no symptoms. Being vigilant, following safety procedures such as masks and hand sanitizer have finally become normal as well. Early days I found myself nearly obsessed with reading the news, watching the daily press conferences, and looking up the statistics. These activities have reduced to a daily glance or two to look at numbers or read the latest about the vaccination. I worry about my family. I wonder sometimes if I feel even slightly ill or off if ‘this is it’— have I finally contracted it? And then worry about giving it to others. Another way that I have felt the impact has been in the work environment. I work remotely in the technical sector, and have for several years, so at the beginning of the pandemic there were no adjustments in my routine. However, it didn’t take long to see the impacts of the virus on my clients. Impacts that were not prepared for even with disaster recovery, risk management or continuity planning. The financial impacts businesses affected their ability to ensure employees could work from home. That their employees would have the correct equipment, connectivity, could adapt to the necessary behavioral changes that can disrupt productivity, etc. How now can we receive, prepare and ship equipment, when no one can be in an office to receive anything? The changes have especially impacted efforts to bring on new employees. One thing that I found striking was the requirements in security and access to data when moving from a secure network environment, to set up for the same security at home. A majority of my teams live in countries outside of the United States where some don’t have internet in their homes, let alone being set up to manage Personal Private Information (PPI). My clients in financial sectors have stringent background checks that can take several weeks to clear in the “old world” under normal conditions. With agencies closed and workforce reduced, it is taking two to three times longer to get simple things accomplished. The last major impact I have felt during the shift to my sector becoming a “working from home one,” was experiencing people on the other end of ZOOM, as we all had to overcome our fears about interruptions. Children crying, wanting attention because they don’t understand why mom and dad are home but can’t pay attention to them. Dogs barking, doorbells ringing, calls dropping. It took several months to work out many of the kinks, and for everyone to adjust to these interruptions, but being OK with them. Overall, I would say that I am not directly impacted too much for the moment. Most of the adjustments that have been made and are now normal feeling. Things are finally feeling like they are back to business as usual, I suppose. On a personal level, my fears rise and wain, and each day is different. I am leery of vaccinations, and wonder if the “wonder cure” we’ve been promised will be miraculous, or if more difficulties will follow? The verdict is not out on that yet, so we will have to wait and see what our next ”new normal” will really look like.

A summer protest against police brutality at which you can see people wearing masks

Maggie shared a condensed version of her experience with Covid-19 with me. Among her experiences she had to quarantine during her birthday, cancel vacations, and work life was disrupted. She was able to turn these negatives into positive experiences that enriched her life none the less. Maggie- "When it comes to Covid-19 it has affected me in both positive and negative ways unlike most people who I feel like it’s only brought negative outcomes. My roommate left our place for months during the start of Covid. I had to cancel my trip to Florida because family I was visiting has Lupus and we couldn’t risk it. My summer job was not going to start till end of July when it usually starts at the beginning of May. Luckily, we started Memorial Day weekend. Once work did resume it was hard because we didn’t have a full staff and the new regiments were hard at first to get used to but the positives things that came out of it, during the summer where I work were usually working 60+ hours and never really get any downtime except at night but I became closer to my island family because we’d close a couple days a week due to lack of workers which meant we all could become closer and hangout with each other. I spent more time on the lake this year than I ever had. I became closer to a lot more people than usual and even despite Covid it was one of my favorite summers. With summer over and jobs being hard to find I am now traveling the NE states going from national park to national park while practicing social distancing and Covid procedures. So for me it’s brought me closer to myself and created stronger friendships."

Tatiana works at Davita Dialysis in the Miami, Florida area. Her work experience has been immeasurably altered due to Covid-19. Walking in to work everyday feels very different for her with all of the warnings and no visitations allowed.