The United States COVID statistics hit a grim milestone last week: one million deaths due to the virus. The pandemic has had a big impact on everyone.

COVID-19 began on Dec. 12, 2019, in Wuhan, Hubei a province of China. In January 2020, COVID-19 was brought to the United States by connecting flights. On Jan. 17, 2020, the CDC sent a team to Washington state to help trace efforts in response to the first COVID-19 case. 

Employment was greatly affected by the virus. Stores were shut down, people couldn’t bring in income or pay their bills. In some ways, the world was shut down. COVID caused people to work from home. They had to operate and adjust to a different lifestyle.

Throughout this time it has been a challenge to keep kids in school. Initially, schools either turned to online classes or tried to keep students six feet apart. In October of 2020, the Atlantic School Board required students and staff to wear masks for the 2020-2021 school year. The mask mandate was eventually lifted by the Iowa Governor.

As students and their families contracted COVID, teachers struggled to keep students upon their missing work and keep their motivation on track. Teachers also faced sickness, and substitutes and bus drivers were also in short supply. 

The pandemic has also caused parents additional stress and pressure when their child gets sick. It was harder for parents to take off work to care for their kids if there are too many people sick at the same time. Parents usually have to use their sick days for their children, so when they get sick themselves, it is harder to take off because they have already used their sick days to take care of their kids. 

We need to try our best to help the illnesses not spread so we can make the world less stressful. According to the CDC, we should wear a mask, avoid crowds, poorly ventilated places, and more. While it is good that kids are still able to go to school even when the illness is going around, keeping those students healthy is important. Students already experienced what it is like to not go to school when the transmission rates were at their highest.

COVID has affected the world and the schools. If you’re sick you want to make sure you don’t affect other people, so you need to stay home. You should never want to risk someone else’s life just because you want to do what you want.