Nina Fan talks about the impact of COVID-19 on our Drew’s community and emphasises the importance of us all sticking together.
On New Year’s Eve, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed by China of a flu-like disease spreading within Wuhan, a capital province with a population of 11 million.
As the clock struck 2020, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had discovered that the possible “Ground Zero” of the outbreak may have been an innocent seafood market in Wuhan and since the discovery, the market has remained closed.
My words may not be as academically advanced as the other articles that have come before and even the many that will come after on this page.
This is simply my way of expressing to everyone that wherever you are, albeit at home or college, we are all here to help and support each other in the toughest times and that the bond that we create as a Drew’s family will help us fight through the world’s worst times.
As someone who had to make a big move from Queensland to Sydney, it was definitely not an easy decision to move away from everything and everyone that I had known to a completely new world and it was for sure a questionable decision after having moved in for the first week. Homesickness was one of the things I encountered during the first week and I never thought about telling or asking anyone about it. Now I realise that in times when we need a shoulder to lean on for a second, a minute, an hour or a day, we should ask and not be afraid to ask.
There are many of us here that have experienced, if not the same, at least a very similar feeling to what I have felt. It may not always be the best feeling, but that’s how our human emotions work and that’s okay.
I am sure that many of you have friends and family continuously calling and texting non-stop, every day. Worrying about whether where you are staying is safe, whether you are safe and whether you are healthy, because let’s admit it, it sucks being sick and nobody enjoys the feeling. However, it is definitely a lot worse if you are being isolated, not able to do anything, only being able to move around the room and nowhere else. It’s not a great feeling. There are currently hundreds of thousands of people worldwide being put into isolation, countries have gone into lockdown and too many are going to the other side of life. Hospitals are becoming helpless and are asking for the support of the community to help them get through every sleepless night of non-stop patients rolling in. Many people in the nation are going into panic mode, stores are continuously running out of necessities and people are slowly becoming wild animals fighting over toilet paper every day.
A friend said to me, “this mass hysteria has caused not only a toilet paper panic, but a cohort migration”, and of course they were right with many members of our Drew’s family leaving one by one as the days continued to pass. At this moment, many of us are unsure as to who will be staying to keep the fort down and who will be leaving to be with their loved ones. It would be a lie if we said that those who are still within the college grounds are not afraid of the pandemic entering and causing us to move into a college-wide quarantine. We are all worried about it, but outside of intelligent preventative measures within ourselves, it is really out of our hands.
Government officials are doing their best to make heavy decisions on what the next move should be as it really does affect every person in our 25 million population. Obviously, I cannot be a genie and grant three wishes to help those affected recover, to completely destroy the virus and to restock on lost toilet paper. Right now, the best thing that we can all do is give as much support to those who are affected by this outbreak and show that even as a college with a population of healthy human bodies are able to get through the tough times and band together as one to become a stronger family and to spread positive vibes rather than negative energy.
My message to everyone who has found the time to read this article is that no matter where you are and what you are doing, remember that there are always those who love you dearly, but also remember that if you ever need any help or support or just some love, the Drew’s family is here stronger than ever to give you that and no matter what we will deliver to you the best of the best and will always continue to do so!
To the awesome people who are still holding the Drew’s fort down, be sure to continue to spread your amazingly positive and fun vibes, because desperate times call for desperate measures and every single one of you embody the super happy vibes we need in this world. Stay together and stay strong, the Drew’s family is the best of the best and we are all here for each other as one huge family to get through this tough fight so that when the rest of the family come back into our welcoming arms,they can have the world’s biggest and best hug!
Keep safe everyone and remember to keep covering, washing and disinfecting your hands!
Image: Nina Fan