Items
Subject is exactly
Government State
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2022-03-25
Virginia's Law Barring Mask Mandates Does Not Apply to 12 Children with Disabilities
A news article from NPR talks about the parents of 12 children that challenged the newly signed law by Governor Glenn Youngkin to halt the enforcement of that law because it violated the children's rights under the federal American with Disabilities Act. This law would only give parents the right to choose for their own children. The group of parents have kids with health conditions that range from asthma to cystic fibrosis, which put them at heightened risk for COVID-19. What about other kids that have health conditions that make them a heightened risk for COVID whose parents didn't say their federal rights were violated? -
2022-03-21
In Hanover, the anti-LGBTQ school board needs discipline, not protesting students
This story is about the school board of Hanover County in Virginia needing discipline instead of letting it's students protest and participate in walk-outs during school hours because of the policies against their transgender students. The school board is accused of having no intentions of supporting the non-binary and transgender students of Hanover. This is important because it is once again showing discriminatory policies that the school board keeps bringing up against transgender students during the COVID-19 pandemic. -
2022-03-16
COVID Surge in American Samoa
American Samoa, a small U.S territory located in the South Pacific, was the last place to experience the surging numbers of covid cases. When the coronavirus was declared a pandemic at the beginning of 2020, American Samoa was the only place on earth not to have any cases of COVID. To combat the disease, the government of American Samoa barred incoming flights for a whole year from the United States and their neighboring island of Western Samoa. Although the island did not have any COVID cases, the government promoted and maintained the restrictions throughout the island. However, after opening the borders for inbound flights after a year, American Samoa did not report its first Covid case until September 2021. Since then, travel restrictions and quarantine for travelers were enforced, but eventually, a big surge of cases began to be seen in mid-February of this year. The opening of borders to inbound flights brought the disease into the island. Coronavirus cases jumped from only a hundred to 555. It is still considered relatively low worldwide, but it is high for a small island. Fortunately, no fatalities are reported, with more than 80 percent of the population vaccinated. The attached image is data reported weekly by the American Samoa Department of Health to the public to show how many cases are positive in each village and totaled in American Samoa. The people were worried that the disease might cause some fatalities, the government was quick to impose a lockdown restriction called "CODE RED," which barred social gatherings, schools, traveling, and work on February 22. Although the public panicked with the news of coronavirus cases on the island, the government worked to assure the safety of the people by making sure people were aware of the number of cases and the situation with live news updates and weekly data by the Department of Health. I was also worried when I first heard of the surging number of COVID cases at home. Although I moved to the states for school, I made sure I am kept up to date with what is happening back at home. With the fatalities I saw here in the states with Covid, I was also worried for my parents. But it was comforting to see the live updates by the government on social media which kept me closer to home. -
05/07/2021
Holly Tremble Oral History, 2021/05/07
Holly Tremble lives in Hudson, Wisconsin a suburb of the Twin Cities and is currently unemployed but also is a care worker once a week at a nursing home in Northfield, Minnesota so that she can see her father during this pandemic. In this interview, Holly discusses how COVID-19 has affected her life, her employment status, and family and community life. She shares what it has been like to go through this pandemic as well as the different approaches to the pandemic that she experienced being on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin and the difference in policies in the area. -
12/09/2020
Reed Engle Oral History, 2020/12/09
C19OH -
05/03/2021
Kyle Sauley Oral History, 2021/05/03
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05/07/2021
Kathy Volkmann Oral History, 2021/05/07
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. -
04/22/2021
Gary Luloff Oral History, 2021/04/29
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05/19/2020
Trent Jansen Oral History, 2020/05/19
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. -
05/18/2020
Stanton Webster Oral History, 2020/05/18
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. -
2020-03-30
Having to wear masks
The news article I put is an article about having to wear masks through the pandemic. This was a big change for America with many people wearing masks to help slow the spread and keep ourselves and those around us safe from covid. Many states had laws on when to wear masks, this was a historic moment for America when they announced we had to wear masks because the covid illness is very serious. -
12/11/2020
Shawnda Kaeding Oral History, 2020/12/11
C19OH -
10/27/2020
Henry Wathan Oral History, 2020/10/27
This interview was recorded as part of The Covid 19 Oral History Project, a project of the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute associated with The Journal of a Plague Year: A Covid 19 Archive. This interview was conducted through the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of credit for HIST3158 under the supervision of Dr. Rebecca S. Wingo. -
05/06/2021
Liz Haynes, Oral History, 2021/04/21
Liz Haynes discusses her life pre-COVID and how she has been affected during COVID as a cancer survivor. She talks about her love of travel and hopefully future plans, politics (local and federal), and ends with positive outlook for the future. -
03/19/2021
Jeff Litsey Oral History, 2021/03/19
Jeff Litsey is a resident of the Fountain Square Neighborhood in Indianapolis with his wife and two children. Jeff discusses how the pandemic has affected his family life and schedule while also discussing how the neighborhood dynamics have evolved during the pandemic. Jeff talks about the challenges of running a small, locally owned, coffee shop during the pandemic in the Fletcher Place neighborhood of Indianapolis. This includes revenue, business plan evolution, government assistance, adjusting employee’s hours and pay, and helping employees and customers feel safe during the pandemic. He also illustrates how the neighborhood community helped his employees through tips that rolled into a community employee assistance plan. Additionally, Jeff discusses his anxiety that increased during the pandemic from running a business and worrying about how his shop could affect others and himself. This extended to worrying about his family. He discusses how the hobbies of art, hiking, and birdwatching helped him feel better. The interview ends with his hopes for all people to have healthcare and a home. -
09/30/2020
Joseph Spataro Oral History, 2020/09/30
This interview consists of a perspective of a white male from Vermont living in Florida for the school year, whom has experienced COVID from the rural suburbs of Vermont, to the maskless warzone that is Florida. His perspective is one from a gamer, only knowing the interviewer though playing videogames together. -
05/26/2020
Michael Mike Michalski Oral History, 2020/05/26
In this oral history interview, Alexander Michalski interviews Mike Michalski in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. Mike discusses his job and how it was affected by covid, the impact the virus has had on his friends and family, and home life. He touches on media and how the news is covering the virus. He also discusses local and federal government responses to the virus as well as his hopes for the future. -
2020-08-01
Guessing the Numbers
As Melbourne’s second wave crested and fell in mid-2020, “the presser” was appointment viewing; “the number” could bring hope or despair. Sometime in the dreary days of lockdown, my family started guessing how many cases would be reported each day. Keeping a running tally of who was closest to the pin. Perhaps it was a way of taking control of the uncontrollable. Dealing with the apparent randomness of the numbers that controlled every aspect of our lives. Some of the scraps of paper we used to write on were time capsules of a vanished world: a rough sketch of enrolments for the second half of my BA; an invoice from a tradesman; a reminder note to pick someone up from hospital. Plans, visitors, outings – all overwritten by inexorable quotidian sameness. Submitted for University of Melbourne HIST30060, Semester 2 2021. -
2021-08-10
Lockdown Library - HIST30060
During the 6th Victorian lockdown in August 2021, my family decided to do some cleaning of our old children’s books to pass the time. My mum decided to set up this little ‘lockdown library’ to give the books out for free to good homes, in hopes of helping kids who are stuck at home stay busy during the lockdown and online schooling. As they cleaned, they also found some adult books to give away as well, in hopes that it would help provide not only entertainment, but a reminder of human kindness and the fact that we are all in this together. -
2021-08-06
2021 Census - HIST30060
The 2021 Census fell on August 10th, during the 6th lockdown. This Mark Knight comic published in the Herald Sun on August 12th is a comedic take on the questions Victorians were truly thinking about. I thought the QR code with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was particularly clever, as the use of QR codes to scan into everywhere we visit has become a quintessential part of our everyday routines. The questions themselves are funny, with the Aussie slang ‘yeh, nah’ being the options for each one. Asking things such as if you have been out of your trackies or house that day are clever questions, because they reflect a universal experience that almost all Victorians could relate to in one way or another. -
2021-06-20
Covid Tests for the Alpine Resorts - HIST30060
This comic drawn by Mark Knight, is a satirical cartoon commenting on Victoria’s requirements to obtain a negative Covid test result prior to entering the Alpine Regions, as the mountains prepared to welcome guests back to their slopes. I came across this cartoon the day it was posted in the Herald Sun, as I was packing my bags to leave for Mount Hotham early the next morning. When entering the resort and prior to driving up the mountain, there was staff in Fluro vests checking everyone had an SMS indicating their negative test result. I found it interesting that this short, 10 second process was the only one in place to keep the Alpine Regions safe from Covid. On the mountain, there was a testing site which never seemed to have any visitors, as well as Covid marshals in Hotham Central (the main building) checking to make sure everyone was wearing a mask, or face covering at all time. Due to the nature of the resort, it felt as if Covid was a thing of the past, with hospitality open, dance floors, retail shops and no social distancing on chair lifts or in accommodation. -
2021-10-21
HIST30060 Vaccine Sticker
This photo is a picture of the sticker that the doctors would give out once you got your vaccine shot. My doctor peeled off the sticker and handed it to me, and I quickly put it on an old receipt in my bag because I wanted to keep it. Outside of the last few years, diseases often did not really play a role in 21st century Australia, but now the sticker shows how some people have a sense of pride around being vaccinated. My partners doctor placed the sticker directly onto his shirt, and he was quite happy to wear it the whole way home. In addition, the Victorian government logo on the bottom shows how the government is endorsing vaccinations for the public. HIST30060. -
2021-05-28
HIST30060 Frustration over lockdown restrictions in Victoria
This is a short sentence sent into the Herald Sun newspaper just after another lockdown had been announced, that says quite simply 'Daniel Andrews, just get out of my life.' This sentiment has grown throughout the course of the pandemic, as people feel very frustrated with their freedoms being restricted, if only temporarily. Thus, this item reflects the debate around pandemic restrictions- while some see them as necessary to stop the spread, others question either the need for them or their harshness. -
2021-09-21
(HIST30060) CFMEU Protests
HIST30060. Following a state-wide construction vaccine mandate on the 20st of September, 2021, the CFMEU headquarters was violently ransacked. 'Tradies' or construction workers believed the CFMEU had not stood up for their rights. Violent scenes erupted between CFMEU leaders inside the headquarters and union members who had turned up to protest the vaccine mandate. Many Victorians watched the events unfold on livestream via Facebook and YouTube. Commentators noted that these protests were hijacked by far-right agitators attempting to destabilize the state through protests, especially during a pandemic where large gatherings are considered dangerous and illegal. Ultimately, the Andrews Government responded to the event by shutting down the entire construction sector for two weeks. This functioned as catalyst that pushed thousands of construction workers to protest for many days in the CBD. Ugly clashes between protestors and Victoria Police removed any validity or standing they may have had. Most people in the community heavily criticised those present, especially when other sectors (e.g. retail, hospitality, entertainment) had not been able to work for over 18 months. -
2021-10-18
Don't Forget Your Mask!
The mask has had a huge impact on our sense of touch and smell. For one, breathing with a mask on was an adjustment. Tuna sandwiches became something to avoid at all costs because of the smell you could be stuck with all day by wearing a mask. There is also something to say about the feeling of a mask around your ears and over your nose. The constant practice of grabbing a mask and putting it around one's ears has become a ritual of protection or habit as we are now bound to this object like that of a cell phone which is now always on our person. The sense of touch also adapted to various kinds of masks that were promoted and the variety of masks that would be marketed for commercial value. The mask, one of the few things that forces us to run back inside the house because we forgot it. The mask, a true measuring stick for how quick we can adapt and change society for better and for worse. -
2020-03-13
The Fight for a Show
When the global pandemic hit, we were just a day away from putting on a theater production that we had worked on for a year and over 10 weeks of rehearsal. As a board, we thought of every possible way to keep a show, so that it wasn't shut down. I went and measured the venue, the local Veterans Hall to see how many seats we could have in the hall, if they were six-feet apart. We looked at requiring mask or limiting to just family. We met with local public health officials with different options on how to keep our show. But, the final decision was that it was in our best interest to cancel the show. The concern was that with family coming in from other areas, that Best of Broadway could be responsible for bringing Covid-19 to Susanville, and we were not willing to take that risk. When we cancelled, we figured we just needed to reschedule the show a couple of weeks. That, in and of itself was challenging. But the idea of a possible lawsuit or worse causing harm to others was a real possibility. As the Board President, I had to announce via Facebook and Instagram that the show was cancelled. It was terrible. A very sad day for our Broadway family. This post was from one of the husbands of our performers. His words of encouragement was reassuring. Most people responded in a sympathetic and understanding way. -
2021-03-13
On the Fence
South Carolina legislation and its residents have always been on the fence about COVID but when senator Lindsey Graham caught it back in March of this year, reality started to settle in. This was a wake up call to southerns and South Carolinians alike to start taking COVID mandates more seriously. I empathized with Graham but also was somewhat grateful that his sickness would be a lesson to others. -
2021-05-12
Et Tu , Brute?
When Governor McMaster signed an executive order stating that children had to wear mask in schools, the state went bananas. Many began to question whether McMaster's hawk feathers were starting to turn white as many people formed their opinions on what was the correct way to implement health guidelines in schools. I feel like this shows the pushback our governor was starting to have with COVID guidelines since our numbers were the highest in the South along with Georgia the month prior. I also felt like this was funny change of events considering that the governor was the first opt in to South Carolinians not wearing mask when the CDC confirmed it was safe. -
2021-05
Reopening too Soon
In many states, the government seemingly ended mask mandates and opened back up in one day. Washington State lifted mask mandates and reopened everything at 100% only to reinstate mask mandates and reduce compacity a few weeks later. This has lead to the meme of everything is on fire but let's just reopen anyways. -
2021-10-05
Child's Letter to Doug Ducey
Twitter user @amybchan tweeted a photo of a letter that a 7-year-old student wrote to Governor Doug Ducey. She tells him that she and her sister both got COVID and asks him to make masks at school mandatory. Governor Ducey has not only refused to mandate masks at K-12 schools in Arizona but he has punished public school districts in the state that have chosen to require masks by withholding federal funding meant for COVID mitigation strategies. Parents, students, and educators have been outspoken about this policy and the federal government has weighed in over the mishandling of these COVID relief funds. My children are in a district that requires masks and have put in a grant application for those specific funds but have been told that it is "pending review" and has not released the money to the district. It is hurting districts who are actually trying to keep students and families safe and rewarding schools for not following proven mitigation strategies. At a time when children under 12 cannot get the vaccine this is especially troubling to many Arizona families. -
2021-09-21
COVID cases 2021-2022 School Year
This article shows the amount of COVID cases at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year compared to the number of cases from the 2020-2021 school year in Texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott ended the mask mandate in March 2021, although many school continued their use until the end of the 2020-2021 school year. A May 2021 executive order issued by Abbott banned local governments from requiring mask wearing. Thus, many Texas schools did not require masks to be worn on campuses. The article provides data that there are more COVID 19 cases in the first two months of the 2021-2022 school year than there were the entire previous school year. -
2021-08-20
School District Facebook Post
This is a Facebook post from Cypress-Fairbanks ISD prior to the start of the 2021-2022 academic year. Cypress Fairbanks ISD (CFISD) is the 3rd largest public school district in the state of Texas and faced a lot of scrutiny for not enforcing a mask mandate. Their reasoning was due in part to Governor Greg Abbott ending the mask mandate in the state of Texas. CFISD released many of these "Fact Checking" posts to assure parents and the community that COVID safety was still a top priority. -
2021-10-02
Shannon Connelly Oral History, 2021/10/05
The contributor of this item did not include verbal or written consent. We attempted to contact contributor (or interviewee if possible) to get consent, but got no response or had incomplete contact information. We can not allow this interview to be listened to without consent but felt the metadata is important. The recording and transcript are retained by the archive and not public. Should you wish to listen to audio file reach out to the archive and we will attempt to get consent. -
2021-10-05
Wide Range of Acceptable Socializing during Covid-19
This meme shows the four members of the "family" in the movie "We're the Millers" reacting to houseguests during Covid-19. The "Dad" says, "My houseguests won't come unless we wear masks!" The "Mom" says, "My houseguests won't come unless we text them our vax cards!" The "daughter" says, "Our houseguests won't come unless we've had a negative covid test in the last 48 hours!" And the son says, "You guys are having houseguests?" The meme represents the wide range of "rules" that people are setting for themselves during Covid-19. Where I live in Utah, there are no official rules right now except that mask mandates are banned in public schools. In public, most people are not wearing masks and very few students are wearing them in schools. This meme, although it describes having houseguests, represents the varying degrees that people are socializing in all venues: at home, restaurants, movie theaters, amusement parks, family reunions, etc. Some people are still very cautious while others are "back to normal." -
2021-03-31
Gyre Oral History, 2021/03/31
Self-Description: “My name is Gyre. I am a multidisciplinary artist based in South Africa with global ambitions. I specialize in music, but I also work as a freelance writer as well as in dance. I’m a dancer learning to choreograph. Political commentator, particularity with regard to the LBGTQA+ community. I identify as queer. I am homoromatic and homosexual at this point in my life. You never know honey, it’s a spectrum. I had my first venture into artistic expression that is rooted in queer rights and queer understanding and queer theory, was my debut album, titled Queernomics, which was a documented audio-visual book about the contemporary experiences of a Black queer South African male, and that has gotten me into the positions that I express myself in, both out of passion and out of profession. Inkosi Yenkonkoni, which means “The Gay King”, in my native language which is Zulu.” Other details available here: Works produced during the pandemic: Kithi, International LGBTQ+ Rights Festival, writing on football. Some of the things we spoke about included: “What happens at the top is just politics, what happens at the bottom is real life.” Thinking about the term “pandemic” Listening to the body The pandemic exposing state corruption Having written a song called “Quarantine” in 2018 The inadequacies and privileges of Medical Aid in South Africa, having aged out of Medical Aid before COVID, the personal impact of worse-health insurance during pandemic, the importance of demonetizing health care Pre-COVID keeping busy: organizing, walking, collaborating Transit during COVID, sub/urban and outskirt disparities Canceling shows and taking dance classes and rethinking what it means to be productive Global Americanization and the impact of Trump’s pandemic denialism on South African health Moving out of disbelief about the severity of COVID after losing a loved one in the first wave Gratitude for the global influence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and sadness that tragedy in the diaspora brings neocolonialism to the fore The importance of social media for queer counter-violence and activist fractures among LGBTQA+ Feeling allyship with the #metoo movement How homophobia intersects with everyday altercations about social distancing The anxieties of hooking up during the pandemic The importance that scientists learn to speak in lay terms about climate change and vaccines Existence as resistance and creating art “Spread love not tolerance” Other cultural references include: Trans Day of Visibility, astrology, and the TV series Pose. -
2020-04-16
The Diary of a Broken High School Senior
I was a member of the class of 2020 at what I believe is the most incredible school imaginable. Perhaps after thirteen years I am far from unbiased, but the sense of community offered by my beautiful, 1,200 student Pre-K through 12th grade school is unmatched. Now, envision a girl who walked this campus with her childhood best friends, siblings, and cousins, and, rather frequently, her mother who made an effort to lead the Parents Association countless years. Overlay a history of homesickness and a global pandemic, and the product is March 2020 me when this blissful chapter of my life was abruptly ripped away, propelling me prematurely towards college at a school I had already decided could never fill the shoes of my high school. This tear stained entry was written on April 16th, when my state governor officially shut down all schools for the remainder of the school year. I had spent the last four weeks with a countdown on my iPhone tracking the days until I could return to school. The countdown had to be adjusted at one point when “coronacation” was extended from one to three weeks. Yet I remained the voice of naive optimism, unwilling to entertain the unfortunate reality that everyone around me had already accepted. This may seem dramatic and theatrical. But this same optimist in me hopes that, should anyone stumble upon my story, they will “respect what [they] cannot know” (Saidiya Hartman). There is much more to this story and my history than could ever be relayed to another person. But with the right lens, great value can be extracted from every story, no matter how many dried tears dot its pages. Hartman, Saidiya. "Venus in Two Acts." Small Axe, vol. 12 no. 2, 2008, p. 1-14. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/241115. -
2020-10-08
2020 Election
The picture above is a photo that I took of myself after mailing my absentee ballot for the 2020 election. This was something that was especially exciting amidst the difficulties that Covid-19 had caused in the United States and around the world. Due to the pandemic, most in-person voting was not happening that year. Instead, most people mailed in ballots. As a college student, I needed to register for an absentee ballot in order for me to vote in my home state of New Jersey. I remember that I did this while I was stuck at home over the summer. For me, during the summer of 2020, I did not feel as though I was accomplishing anything. Registering for my absentee ballot was one of the only things that I actually accomplished during this time. In addition, there was much unrest in the country, as well as on social media, that motivated me to register as well. As a 20 year old, this was the first Presidential election that I could vote in, which made it especially important for me. During the summer, with all of the unrest in the country, I was interested to see the areas in which I agreed with my parents, and the areas in which we disagreed. In such a disaster of a year, I wanted to be able to say that I had voted in the election, at the very least. It is my civic duty after all. I think that this photo is extremely interesting because it is a true time capsule. I am wearing a mask, which characterizes the Covid pandemic. The filter proudly states, “Just Voted!!!” and “Elections 2020”. There is a joy that is evident on my face; there is something exciting about being able to vote in your first presidential election. Throughout my life, I have learned about elections and have always wanted to take part. In the 2016 election, my high-school peers and I, who were nearly competent citizens, were forced to watch from the sidelines. There is also something particularly interesting about an election in an extremely difficult time. It felt important in a way that regular years might not. -
2020-10-20
"Bennett Walsh resigns as Holyoke Soldiers' Home superintendent; suit over firing dropped"
This MassLive article reports on Holyoke Soldiers' Home superintendent Bennett Walsh's decision to drop a law suit after Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker had him fired in light of the facility's poor response to the pandemic. -
2020-09-13
"Plight of Holyoke Soldiers' Home residents, families becomes political flashpoint in state Senate race"
This MassLive news article discusses how a state senate candidate was using the poor response to the pandemic at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home during his opponent's term in office to gain popularity for himself. -
2020-03
Rural Connecticut: Covid Doubters
I lived in a rural part of Connecticut during the 2020 Covid lockdowns. Despite the widely publicized nature of the pandemic, at least half of the citizens in my town didn't believe the disease was real. There was a real divide over wearing masks and closing down schools/work because many people felt the disease was over-blown, not deadly, or simply wouldn't strike a rural place as hard as a city. While my town didn't suffer as much as places like New York City did, we still had Covid cases and deaths across the county. It was frustrating to live in a rural place during the outbreak, because even though we were "safer," than city-dwellers, nobody took measures to preserve that safety. This mindset continued when vaccines became available, and the latest rage in rural areas is using Ivermectin (horse medicine) instead. -
2020-03-19
EXECUTIVE ORDER N-33-20
This is the executive order from California Governor Gavin Newsom that introduced California's shelter-in-place on March 19, 2020. The executive order orders Californians to stay at home and only leave home for necessities (buying food, health care, etc.) or for working in certain industries. -
2021-08-11
Sorry, Not Sorry. Vaccines Are Necessary.
In two years of everything under the sun becoming political, it’s not a shock that vaccines are yet another unnecessarily politicized topic. Of course, unlike masks, which were not a part of our daily routine prior to 2020, vaccinations and anti-vaxxers are not new. And honestly, if my two elementary aged kids could be vaccinated I would care a lot less about anti-vaxxers. I think they’re selfish, but for the most part, they’d be hurting themselves (and the immuno compromised that cannot be vaccinated.) But my kids can’t be vaccinated and I have been trying to stay positive knowing next week they’re walking into a classroom with only a mask for protection. I asked my mom “what is their teachers are unvaccinated?” I mean, every unvaccinated person poses a risk - what is the adult in charge is an anti-vaxxer and anti-masker? So it was with complete and utter shock and total relief to get the official word that teachers in the state of CA must be vaccinated. It’s a shame that this seals the fate on governor Newsom’s recall. I don’t love the guy, but I sure as heck want him more than a DeSantis and considering the last time CA recalled a governor, we ended up with the Terminator in charge…well. With Florida’s teachers being threatened with losing their pay over mandating masks, I am relieved to live in a state taking the opposite approach. Call us Commiefornia, I don’t care. Like I’ve been saying for a year and a half, this is a public health crisis. This isn’t about politics, it’s about an invisible virus that is continuing to mutate and spread. And as a teacher, I truly believe it’s my responsibility to do anything to help mitigate the spread. -
07/25/2021
Lauren Pease Oral History, 2021/07/25
Ashley Tibollo interviewed stay-at-home mom, Lauren Pease about her experience with the Covid-19 pandemic. In this interview, they discuss her experience with the lockdown, her worries about the pandemic, and what life was like during lockdown with her foster child. This interview also touches on political protests, virtual learning and her husband's transition to working from home. -
2021-07-24
Joseph Dopkin, Oral History 2021/07/24
Ashley Tibollo sits down with Joseph John Dobkin to discuss how his life has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this interview his discusses how his life at school as a University student has changed. He also discusses how the dynamics in his dorm room and life at home with his family were impacted. At the end of this interview Dobkin touches on political topics, his views on how the pandemic was handled by local and state governments. He also discusses his views on both anti-mask and BLM protests. -
2021-07-24
Janine Brown. Oral History, July 24, 2021
In this two-part interview, Ashley Tibollo interviews Janine Brown on how her life was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first part of the interview, Brown discusses how her last year of college was impacted and about her transition to remote teaching. She discusses her fears of the Delta variant, what sources she uses to get her information and what her feelings are regarding government action. She also discusses family life and how she was affected by the quarantine. She ends this part with her hopes for the future. In the second part of this interview, Brown discusses her decision to move in with her boyfriend right before quarantine and what it was life navigating a new relationship amidst a pandemic. She also discusses her pets and how their moods changed as her life changed. She discusses the difficulties of house hunting and the ways that the pandemic has affected the market. -
2021-07-16
Arizona governor says schools can't force unvaccinated students to quarantine if they're exposed to Covid-19
This CNN article discusses a recent letter sent out by Gov. Doug Ducey's education adviser, that said requiring unvaccinated students to quarantine after a COVID exposure is against state law because Arizona does not require students to be vaccinated or wear face masks. I am from NYS and this is drastically different than what Gov. Andrew Cuomo is requiring and/or recommending for students in public schools and state universities. It is bizarre how different states and governors are handling the COVID and vaccination situation. -
2021-02-01
Why is Arizona worst for COVID-19 nationwide? Here are 7 contributing reasons
This article discusses why Arizona's Covid rate was the highest in the country as of February 1, 2021. Contributing factors included a lack of mask-wearing and cross-border traffic. -
2021-07-13
New daily COVID-19 cases in US have doubled in past 3 weeks
The COVID-19 curve in the U.S. is rising again after months of decline, with the number of new cases per day doubling over the past three weeks, driven by the fast-spreading delta variant, lagging vaccination rates and Fourth of July gatherings. Confirmed infections climbed to an average of about 23,600 a day on Monday, up from 11,300 on June 23, according to Johns Hopkins University data. And all but two states — Maine and South Dakota — reported that case numbers have gone up over the past two weeks. -
2021-07-14
Summer setback: COVID deaths and cases rising again globally
As life goes back to normal (whatever that means) here in the United States I fear that we are all turning a blind eye to the truth, COVID is not gone. Hand sanitizing stations are no longer being refilled in most places and we can go grocery shopping without masks, restaurants are busy and people are getting back to work. This would all be good news if globally our numbers continued to decline. The truth is that growing variants, like the Delta variant, are causing numbers to rapidly rise. Here in the US we have become so comfortable with life back to "normal" that we have become complacent. We are not yet safe, people are still dying. -
2020-05-24
HERMIT HERALD, ISSUE 32
Global death rate per 100,000