En esta entrevista Carmen Caamaño Morua es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Carmen es profesora en la Universidad de Costa Rica, tiene 58 años y vive en San José. Habla del momento que escucho del virus del covid por primera vez y como ha cambiado su vida desde ese momento. Habla de su trabajo como profesora universitaria y como ella ya estaba acostumbrada enseñar virtualmente. Ella también estaba acostumbrada a trabajar de su casa, habla más de los cambios fisco sociales. Para Carmen al requerido más preparación para hacer cosas que eran simples como ir al supermercado. Carmen después habla de sus estudiantes y como se les ha sido difícil no verlos. Ella habla de los estudiantes que no tienen acceso a computadoras ni el Internet. Aunque Carmen vive sola ella es muy cercana a su familia, habla de cómo ha cambiado sus relaciones familiar especialmente con su mamá que es mayor de edad. Habla de su comunidad y sus amistades. Comenta que recién le ha gustado mucho la música clásica y pintar. Para terminar, ella habla del Ministerio de Salud, fuentes principales de noticias y la respuesta del gobierno.

En esta entrevista Jaime Alfonso Urbina García es entrevistado por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Jaime es un trabajador agricultural, tiene 31 años y vive en el Carrizal de Alajuela. Habla del momento que escucho del virus del covid por primera vez y como ha cambiado su vida desde ese momento. Habla de su trabajo en el campo y las dificultades que la pandemia ha causado a su sueldo. Jaime también habla de su hogar y dinámica familiar con sus padres y hermanos. Habla de la xenofobia y del gobierno nicaragüense. Habla de la salud mental, de fuentes principales de noticias que el ve regularmente. También habla del Ministerio de Salud y la Caja del Gobierno. Jaime habla del virus y las restricciones que ha puesto el gobierno. Describe como han cambiado los saludos con la gente y como se siente no tener contacto físico con la gente. Termina con hablar de su familia y como valora más el tiempo que pasa con ellos.

En esta entrevista Christopher May es entrevistado por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Christopher es jefe de policía, tiene 42 años y vive en Heredia. Habla del momento que escucho del virus del covid por primera vez y como ha cambiado su vida desde ese momento. Habla de su trabajo como policía y los cambios que enfrentaron, del uso de la mascarilla y de la transición al trabajo remoto. Christopher también habla del crimen y la violencia doméstica. También habla de su hogar y dinamica familiar. De cómo era un día normal para ellos y como había cambiado por la pandemia. Habla se sus padres y suegros y como les ha afectado la pandemia. Habla de la salud mental de su familia y de sentirse aislado. Habla de la economía, el turismo y el gobierno. Para terminar, habla del capitalismo, las noticias, y el desempleo.

En esta entrevista Irene Lobo Hernandez es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Irene es abogada, tiene 61 años y es de Heredia. Ella habla de la primera vez que oyo de la pandemia de covid. Habla de su trabajo como abogada y las precauciones que han puesto para ayudar la prevención del covid. Ella todavillatrabaja en una oficina, pero con muchas precauciones y también va al gimnasio. Irene habla de su mama y cómo hace lo máximo para cuidarla y guardar la distancia. Ella habla de lo difícil que es estar lejos de familia y no poder verlos por las preocupaciones que están en orden, pero también cuenta de las burbujas que ha formado. Habla de dos personas que han muerto (no de covid) y como se sintió no poder ir a un funeral ni a misa por restricciones. También habla de cosas nuevas que ha adoptado hacer en casa durante cuarentena. La entrevista termina con los asuntos del gobierno, la economía, y sus deseos para el futuro.

En esta entrevista es Rodrigo Hernández Cordero entrevistado por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Rodrigo es dueño de una tienda de ropa, tiene 63 años y vive en Heredia. Habla del momento que escucho del virus del covid por primera vez y como ha cambiado su vida desde ese momento. Habla de su trabajo como dueño de tienda y como ha cambiado el comercio. Habla de su familia y como el cambio que el ha visto entre sus relaciones familiares. Hablar de la estructura de su hogar y también de su comunidad. Rodrigo también habla de su fe como católico y como ve las misas por la televisión. Rodrigo habla de las noticias siendo su fuente principal de información. Para terminar, hablan del gobierno y su respuesta a la pandemia y también habla del futuro.

En esta entrevista Francisco Guzman Solano es entrevistado por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Francisco es policía y tiene 42 años. En esta entrevista, Francisco habla de su día normal en su trabajo y con su familia antes de la pandemia, y como cambio su vida al llegar la pandemia del covid. Habla de las series de medidas sanitarias de restricción y como afecto su trabajo. El trabajo de el es de campo, se encargaba de la sección de estacionamientos y lo transfirieron a vigilancia electrónica del cantón. Francisco también habla sobre las restricciones y las multas que el gobierno estaba cobrando y el falto de uso de máscara de el y su familia. También habla de cómo cambio las relaciones con otros miembros de su familia, habla sobre los cambios a su vida social y formas nuevas de divertirse con su familia. Francisco habla de la economía y cambios en trabajo de miembros de su familia, amigos y conocidos. Habla del gobierno y de las instituciones de la Caja, el UCR y El Instituto de Picado. Para terminar la entrevista, Francisco habla de las formas que se informa de la pandemia y otras noticias y sus deseos para el futuro.

En esta entrevista Danitza Guzman Solano es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Danitza es una maestra, tiene 39 años y es de Heredia. Ella cuenta como cambio la dinámica de sus lecciones y lo difícil que se le hizo las clases virtuales. Habla de su familia, su burbuja familiar y las complicaciones que la pandemiaca le causo. Danitza también habla de su comunidad y su salud mental. Toca el asunto de xenofobia y problemas que ella ha visto que ha resultado por el virus. Danitza da sus opiniones de la inmigración y como ha afectado el país y la crisis del covid. Toca el tema de las noticias y donde ella se educa sobre los datos del covid. Danitza termina con los asuntos del uso de máscara, la economía de Costa Rica y sus deseos del futuro.

En esta entrevista Erika Franco Quirós es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Erika es una orientadora en el Colegio Técnico Profesional. Ella tiene 42 años, vivia sola antes de la pandemia pero decidio moverse a Heredia para estar con su mama y hermanos. Hablan del momento en que Erika se dio cuenta de la pandemia por primera vez, de su trabajo y como le va en el teletrabajo en el colegio y de sus estudiantes. Habla de su familia y sus amigos, de la religión y la espiritualidad, y de la misa por television. Erika habla de como se siente pagando su propio teléfono y internet para poder comunicarse con sus estudiantes, habla del gobierno y la corrupción. Habla un poco de las fuentes de informacion donde ella recibe información y tambien de las noticias falsas. Tocan el tema de la violencia domestica. Termina hablando del futuro.

En esta segunda entrevista de Javier Hernández Echeverria con Carmen Kordick Coury, hablan de todo lo que ha ocurrido ya que paso un año desde la primera entrevista que tuvieron. Javier habla de sus opiniones sobre el turismo y las personas que viajan para vacunarse, sus opiniones de la Ministra de Salud y el cuidado que han dado a la gente de Costa Rica, Javier también da su opinión de que pudo causar que el numero de muertos subieron tan rápido en el pais. También hablan del uso de mascarillas y de las personas que no creen el la pandemia y la falta de uso de las mascarillas. Hablan de la corrupción de la gente que se están provechando de la situación, el efecto de la vacuna, y la economía. Javier también habla de salidas a los restaurantes con su esposa y la cooperación con el distanciamiento. Habla de amigos y familiares que han muerto al resultado de la pandemia, las ideas que tiene sobre la información falsa que el ha visto. Esta entrevista termina con sus deseos del futuro y sus opiniones de donde y porque origino esta pandemia.

En esta entrevista Silvia Azofeifa Ramos es entrevistada por Carmen Kordick Coury concerniente al covid-19 en Costa Rica. Silvia Azofeifa Ramos ella trabaja con inmigrantes, tiene 39 años y vive en San José. Ella presenta sus pensamientos sobre el origen del virus covid-19, habla de su horario diario y como ha cambiado por el virus. Silvia es maestra de psicología y habla de su clase “psicología comunitaria” y como se convirtió en una clase virtual. Habla sobre su relación con sus estudiantes, con sus colegas y su familia. Silvia también habla de sus amistades y su comunidad y como todas esas relaciones han cambiado. Tocan la discusión de la salud mental y de las fuentes principales de información donde ella aprende sobre la situación de la pandemia. Silvia también habla de la xenofobia que ella ve en su trabajo con mujeres mayormente de Nicaragua y como han sido afectadas. Para terminar, Silvia habla del gobierno, del Ministro de la Salud, y el impacto económico del país.

An interview with a Massachusetts General Hospital OBGYN detailing the struggles of COVID and how the medical community has responded to the pandemic.

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Cassie Nyhus was born and raised in Hayward, Wisconsin. She now lives in Bloomer, Wisconsin and works in Rice Lake, Wisconsin in the Radiology department. In this interview Cassie dives deep into what it’s like to work in the healthcare field during a pandemic and her experiences firsthand with the people she has seen and the way these events have changed her workplace. She also touches on her thoughts on people’s rights during this pandemic, and talks heavily about her own personal situation of the stresses that come with being pregnant and soon to be a mother during a global pandemic.

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Parmjit Kaur Singh is a hard-working immigrant from Punjab, India. She came here when she got married and had two boys by the name of Harpreet Singh and Gurpreet Singh. She currently lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin with her family and owns a convenience store in town. She enjoys drinking tea, watching Indian soap operas, gardening, and spending time with her family. In this interview, she gives her thoughts on Covid-19, its impact on her business, and also how it has been devastating to her native country of India.

This interview conducted with Linda White talks about how her job in the financial sector changed and the many challenges presented from working from home. The interview also talks about the challenges of being a mom and having multiple kids returning home under one roof and how the family adapted. The interview also gives an interesting perspective into the life of a mother who has a child working in the health care field at this time. Finally, the interview also talks about other new experiences and hobbies developed and how staying positive was important. This interview ended by talking about the vaccine and looking to the future.

Nic Zakrzewski is from Eau Claire, WI and is a UW Eau Claire student. He also works part time as student custodian at the university. In this interview, he discusses the topics of mental health and his difficulties maintaining family and friend relationships. He also discusses how the transition to online classes has affected his day to day activities. The role of local and federal government in his pandemic experience is also touched upon.

The interviewee, Craig Zehms, discusses how the pandemic and lockdown has affected people’s day to day lives and his initial reacions to the pandemic, stating how he believed that ony the tip of the iceberg had been hit as far as severity goes. Craig then elaborates on his day to day living in Jersey city and his heavy involvement in the community and how important contact with others is. Craig then dives into employment issues overall and then into his own experience and how a new job in real estate has been during the pandemic. Craig then talks about the importance of discipline during isolation and the challenges with keeping in contact with family and friends. At timestamp 00:37:11 Craig gives a very human example of sharing during the pandemic. Towards the end, politics are discussed that include Craig’s opinion that the federal government should have had a specific unified plan instead of having States figure it out and how he was lucky that New Jersey came up with good policy and that most of the populous followed said policy. Lastly, Craig concludes with how important family and friends are and how sharing experiences can make the hard times easier.

Wyatt J. Weisensel was born and raised in Sun Prairie Wisconsin and now works as a software developer for the Orbis Corporation. In the interview, Wyatt discusses how COVID-19 has affected his life, especially his work. At the time the pandemic started in March, he was teaching English in Japan. He shares his views on how, after getting back to the U.S., he needed to find a job, which turned out to be quite a difficult process. He also touches on how politics has affected the U.S. response to the virus.

John Verdon was born and raised in Lansing, Iowa. After attending college, John had a long and successful teaching career at Waverly Shell-Rock High School in Waverly, Iowa. John Verdon is currently retired and resides in the town where he was born and raised. In this interview, John Verdon illustrates how COVID-19 affected his life, his family, his friends, and the small midwestern community he lives in. He discusses the rising number of COVID cases raging across the United States, leadership response to the pandemic, how individuals that he knows responded to the virus, and what impact COVID-19 has on our future.

Katherine Running was raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. She currently resides in Fargo, North Dakota. She is currently occupied as a graduate student and a lab researcher at the USDA in Fargo. In this interview, Ms. Running talks about how the covid-19 pandemic has affected her professional and personal life. She also discusses how people have stopped trusting science and facts.

Galina Pozharsky is a Russian immigrant who has been living in Eau Claire for the past 10 years. We discussed her views on why she believes Covid-19 is not that big of a deal and why she believes the pandemic is at least partially politically motivated.

Josh Miller is from Eau Claire, Wisconsin and he is a police officer. We discuss how Covid 19 has impacted his work, family, and community and how he feels about the pandemic.

Kathy Volkmann works at a credit union in the center of Wisconsin. She also volunteers at a museum through the Marathon County Historical Society. In the interview, she discusses the ways that Covid has changed the way she works and communicates with people around her. She also considers how museums in the present and future could be shaped by the virus. Additionally, she contemplates the ways that Covid has changed the way she looks at her community based on people who have not been cooperating with mask mandates and CDC guidelines.

Barbara Hartwick was born and raised in Minnesota and currently works between two nursing homes as a stylist. In this interview, Barb will describe how Covid-19 has impacted her life including both work and family. She shares her experience and her ways of dealing with not working and then eventually working during a pandemic. She describes the impact the residents had on her and the impact she had on her customers. She also had some other interesting experiences during these unprecedented times.

Wendy Villalva currently lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and attends the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She is a second-year student that is majoring in Biology and double minoring in Pre-Professional Health Science and Latin American Studies. In the first half of the interview, Wendy talks about how the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected her education, family, employment, and community. In the second half of the interview, Wendy shares her own experience working on the rapid-response collection project for the Western Wisconsin COVID-19 Archive with the specific goal of “Documenting the Undocumented.” This part of the project focuses on documenting the Spanish-speaking populations in Western Wisconsin specifically migrant and undocumented workers. Wendy discusses her role and experience with this project.

Lan Yang is an international student from China at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. In this interview, Lan talks about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her and her family. She shares her concerns and challenges with the pandemic and describes how she stays in contact with friends and family. She talks about school activities and classes online. Lan explains the pandemic’s effects on homesickness and how she has been dealing with that as well as the pandemic’s impact on nursing homes and hospitals. Lan also shares information about her job working in the Center for International Education at the university.

Pa Cha Vang is a student at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She graduated high school during the pandemic. In this interview, Pa Cha discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her, including moving from Winona, Minnesota to Minneapolis during the pandemic, finishing high school and starting college, and what she does on a daily basis. She describes how she stays in touch with her friends and family. She also describes her experience with the vaccine and volunteering at a vaccine clinic. Pa Cha also shares her concerns about the pandemic and mental health, and she touches on her personal experience with racism during this period.

Chris Delvin is the RN perioperative manager at the Marshfield Clinic in Eau Claire. In this interview, Chris discusses the effects of the pandemic on his clinic and how he and his staff responded by converting a surgical clinic into a negative flow covid unit and doubling the number of beds they could handle. He talks not only about work but also about how the pandemic has transformed his home and spiritual life. Matt Schneider also joins midway through and offers his perspectives on how Chris managed the situation and contributed to helping protect his community.

Catherine Lee may have been born in Maine, but she currently lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin with her husband and two kids. She works at the Center for International Education at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and discusses how COVID-19 has affected that job, along with her family life and mental health. She shares how living through the pandemic with her family has changed her views on what is important and how she sees the future of her job. She also talks about her children in school and why she was glad to see her daughter go to kindergarten. Catherine shares that she urges more people to get vaccinated.

Graphic banner made from a submission to #SMhopes by Roxane D., a Fifth Grade student in Paula Flynn's class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. In cooperation with Santa Monica Public Library, at the historic Ocean Park Branch on Main Street and Ocean Park.

Graphic banners from submissions to #SMhopes on the Journal of the Plague Year website, in cooperation with the Community Corporation of Santa Monica, at 3031 Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica, CA

The pandemic happened in my senior year of high school so it ruined my last year because I officially become a college student. I was really shocked knowing that I could never be in the classroom again. I wasn't expecting that because everybody thought it was going to be like a 2 weeks vacation for students. The challenge I was facing that is staying inside the house without stepping outside for 2 months. I drove me crazy because I like going on with friends and family, staying inside makes me feel like I've been locked up. And the fear of getting infected by Covid because you could put your family in danger. But as time goes, I get used to everything, I get to step outside after 2 months and I have to get used to wearing a mask in public which is not comfortable at all

In this interview, Chloe Ylitalo describes how COVID-19 has affected her life regarding college, work, and family life. Chloe has attended two different colleges during the pandemic and compares how they handle it differently throughout the 2020 year. Chloe attended Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Ashland, WI for her Medical Assistant degree in the spring, and University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in the fall for her Micro-Biology degree. She touches on the first responses to COVID, what has changed for her, mental health, and how different parts of the state have reacted. She also gives her opinion on how she expects the country will react with talk of a vaccine coming, as well as how she wants the schools to change.

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In this interview with Avery Judnic, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, she will be touching on a variety of topics ranging from her experiences as a high schooler to her college experience. Being a freshman in college, in 2020, means that Avery’s spring of 2020 was spent in high school during the COVID pandemic and her fall semester is being experienced now as a freshman in college. Her class has experience from both high school and college during the pandemic. As she discusses her concerns about the pandemic pre-college and during college, varying trends and ideals are displayed in her experiences. Understanding the life of the class that has been thrown into the thickest of it all will reveal some of the most impactful effects of the pandemic. Avery focuses on her experience in her hometown compared to college life, as well as the concerns of her and her fellow classmates. “It's not about business, it's about teaching, and inspiring young people to do other things in their lives.”

Kim French is the small business owner of River City Stitch in the rural town of Prescott, Wisconsin. Both Kim and her lead Graphic Designer Amanda Hines had to make changes to how they conduct their business during these uncertain times of the pandemic. While they may not have suffered as greatly as some small businesses, they found an opportunity to give back to their fellow local small businesses in the Prescott and River Falls, Wisconsin areas.

Jackie Weber was born in West Bend, Wisconsin. She now lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and works as an occupational therapist in one of the major Milwaukee hospital systems. In this interview she dives deep into the affect that Covid-19 has had on her workplace such as staffing issues, equipment shortages, and burnout. She also talks about the emotional weight of working in such a stressful situation and not being able to help people in the same ways as pre-pandemic. She also speaks on the ways in which hospitals are changing how they treat Covid and often cites an ever-changing set of policies. Throughout the interview she intertwines her views on policy proposals, and anti-maskers into her strong points about safety.

Judy Cherniak discusses how the COVID pandemic changed life for her during the opening months of the pandemic in Toronto, Canada in 2020. She touches on family life, her job loss, the local economy, news media, fake news, isolation, mental health, homelessness, and how she filled her time at home in isolation.

An oral history interview with Trent Jansen. Trent discusses how family and friends have been impacted by the COVID pandemic. He also talks about how his day-to-day work life has evolved during the pandemic. Trent additionally discusses his views that it is time to reopen businesses and get people back to work. He theorizes that mental health issues caused by shutdowns will result in worse long-term issues than the virus itself.

Dang Yang is the Director for the Office of Multicultural Affairs at UW Eau Claire. He identifies as a Hmong American that was born and raised in the Midwest of the United States. Dang discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic affected his personal life as well as his professional life. In this discussion he emphasizes the challenges of operating an office at a higher learning institution as well as the issues of racism that came about with the onset of the Coronavirus and isolated racially charged events that happened during the pandemic. He focuses on equity in his discussion.

An oral history interview with Stanton Webster who discusses his background opening a distillery in Knoxville, Tennessee before the pandemic. He discusses how his business reacted to the COVID-19 Pandemic and his efforts to keep employees paid while finding new revenue streams. In this business-focused interview he also illustrated how a small group of local business banded together to navigate the pandemic and government funding pitfalls. He also discusses family life and changing roles in the home.

It is both crazy and scary to see how long the testing lines for COVID can be.

Due to the unexpected virus “Covid”, my life has been impacted in many various ways. My life has changed in many different perspectives both good and bad. My life feels pretty good at the moment however it's a little bit stressful. It's been very hard to do online schooling rather than going in person. The homework didn't seem as mandatory as it does when you go to school. However I can say I'm getting used to and trying my best to do the best I can. I can say that this virus has made me experience a new perspective on life. It has taught me that it's very important to appreciate the smallest moments and not take anything for granted. As well, it had an impact on my social life because I'm not able to go out with my friends like I used to. I haven't traveled either because it's very easy to become infected with this virus. Everything has been going back to normal slowly, but I'm adapting to all the new regulations that are rising.

I remember very specifically sitting in my Econ class my senior year of high school; we had to watch a CNN 10 video every week and explain how the things in the video could affect the economy. I remember looking my Econ teacher in her eyes and telling her that I thought the Coronavirus was going to be very serious and deadly. She told me that a few dead in China and a few cases in other countries doesn't mean that it will be a big problem. My whole class laughed at me because I was worried that the Coronavirus was going to come to the U.S. and kill a lot of people. That was January 28th, 2020. Cut to March 13th, 2020 Corona was in the U.S. and was spreading very rapidly. March 13th, 2020 was the last day of my senior year without me knowing it. We were told that we were getting an extended spring break and would be out of school for 2 weeks then we would be back. That did not happen. I never stepped foot into my high school again. We started Zoom classes on March 31st, 2020, and I never saw my high school teachers in person again. I didn't get a senior prom, proper graduation, or a school picture to show my future kids. Covid-19 ruined my senior year and would go on to ruin my first year of college, forcing me to drop out for the safety of my family and friends.

Me and my boyfriend were dating for about a year and a quarter when COVID hit, he's my best friend we were inseparable. Until covid hit, both of our families bad high risk members and it was to risky to see each other due to it putting our families at risk, it was about two months until I could see him, just see him and around three months till I could even give him a hug. I remember the first time we saw each other since the lockdown he was in his car and had to drop off something for my mom. I had to stand 7 feet away on the sidewalk and he wasn't allowed out of the car, it was heartbreaking. To see one of the people you love most in life for the first time in months and not be able to give them a hug, I just needed a hug. We are still together today, but this was hard on us as it was on many to not be able to to see or hug a loved one to protect one another is really hard even if it is to keep each other safe.