This is an image of my dog, Dobs – I’ve shared him before on this archive, but I just needed to share this image and justify as to why this dog is so important to me. When the pandemic began, I found myself more isolated than normal, as many people had; I barely spoke to my friends online, and began withdrawing into myself more and more with each day. I would have been completely alone. I don’t have much to say, but this is my best friend; he’s been here with me through some of the worst experiences I have faced during the pandemic, I won’t go into them too deeply, but I am just happy to have this dog in my life, his friendly nature and his funny faces really have had an impact on how I’ve been able to cope with so much.

A post on Instagram about the need for continual support for Indigenous peoples when it comes to protecting their sovereignty; and in resisting colonialism.

A meme referencing either how members of the UCP of Alberta going on vacation during the worst months of the pandemic, or our Premier's vacation during the onslaught of the 4th wave. I guess it's even funnier based on the fact that this can represent multiple instances.

This is a news article detailing the result of Alberta’s “Best Summer Ever” which saw almost all pandemic restrictions relaxed with only the begrudging exception of a required quarantine if you were to test positive – yes they seriously tried to get rid of that. ‘They’ being the UCP (United Conservative Party) of Alberta, which has exacerbated the pandemic through prioritizing corporate needs by pushing to continually open the economy at the expense of public health. Ontop of this, the continual gutting of our healthcare system, as a means to ‘legitimize’ the need for a private healthcare system coincided with this, and had devastating results on the lives of Albertans. Jason Kenny, the premier, went to our ‘greatest outdoor show on earth’ the Stampede; and flipped pancakes for all attendees with a smile. They sold ‘Best Summer Ever’ hats, while slowly our hospitals were filling up. As I am writing this, there is a humanitarian mission currently in my province, the army has been deployed to assist, and we are flying people to Ontario for medical treatment because our hospitals are at capacity. The cannibalistic nature of this party and overall of Capitalism has resulted in immense suffering for my province, people are dying in waiting rooms. The last portion which I wrote there really bothers me, I can’t comprehend that experience, you’re in somewhere where they can take care of you, or help you in anyway – but there’s nowhere to lay down, dying in a liminal space. I have Conservative, and Liberal friends who have stated that “it isn’t that bad” or that it’s “just the unvaccinated,” (yes this is a real comment a Conservative ‘friend’ told me in response to my anger with the situation) I cannot comprehend what they mean by either of these, the situation is clearly unacceptable. People have been willfully sacrificed so corporate executives can make their regular paycheques, why is that not infuriating people, why is it just this fixation on ‘getting back to normal.’ Normal is killing people, and having strong men like Jason Kenny smile and flip pancakes only adds onto the absurdity of the situation, I can’t help but be reduced to a boiling rage whenever I read anything relating to our province and the pandemic, I don’t want to live here anymore if this insanity is perceived as somehow normal, or at the most extreme, ‘tolerated’.

As of September 1st, Covid-19 cases are dropping nationwide. Even though there are still hot spots across the United States, cases have dropped nearly fifty percent.

2.) This is another photo within the Cochrane Times dedicated to documenting Canada’s first Orange Shirt Day; this was an article from the October 6th paper. The text underneath the photo reads: “Sharing Experience, Residential school survivor Jenny Clark shares her story with those gathered near the McDougall Stoney Memorial Church ahead of a ceremonial walk to Morley on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, September 30.

1.) This is the FrontPage paper for the Cochrane Times newspaper on October 6th, 2021. The front page’s photo content is as follows: “Members of the Stoney Nakoda First Nations and guests on the land make their way down Highway 1A from the McDougall church to Morley in a somber ceremonial walk on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation/Orange Shirt Day, September 30”

This is important to me because this is my partner speaking. At the beginning of the pandemic we were living in Montana on a working cattle ranch, so our experience was a lot different than what we were seeing on social media. We experienced extreme food shortages and ironically had an even harder time selling cattle to processors and feed lots.

The story of this video is based on mask mandates across the United States. How different cities and states are reacting to President Biden's pleas for companies and state/local officials to mandate masks.

This article shows how the economic bailouts of the pandemic helped large corporations much more than they helped impacted individuals. Since the beginning, we've seemingly been supporting and encouraging essential workers. The support can be identified as fraudulent because according to the Washington Post, big companies that employ essential workers didn't use their bailout funds to support their workers. Billions of dollars went out but aid is still running low where it matters the most, with hardworking citizens.

This article discusses the debate between patients who are unvaccinated and those who are vaccinated. Should it be a requirement for a transplant patient to get the vaccine? Being unvaccinated puts not only the patient at-risk for contracting COVID-19, but it exposes doctors, nurses, and other patients as well. Several states have already made it a requirement to get the vaccine before being placed on the organ transplant list.

Before we were able to get vaccinated, people were turning to other things to protect themselves and their families, especially supplements. This article represents the supplement strategy in that people were looking for any new answers to approach such a foreign situation.

This photo is an important reflection of what healthcare providers have had to endure and the lasting physical and mental toll the pandemic has taken. It was taken after a 12 hour shift of wearing PPE non-stop.

This conversation was interesting to me because it is an example of how the internet has been able to give people an idea of what the pandemic has been like in other parts of the world. It also presents a strategy some leadership enacted to control the spread of the virus.

I thought this interaction represented a common argument nowadays between people who are not as sympathetic to how the world has changed, and someone else who is trying to counter those negative ideas.

While the pandemic is still going strong, this type of post reflects some of the aftermath of the pandemic. Restrictions have loosened in enough places that people are able to return to restaurants, but there are still so many challenges and obstacles these essential workers are having to face. This picture left an impression on me because it is enforcing that sense of community and having to stick together to make it through these strange times.

This was one of my favorite places to go in college, and they were unfortunately unable to make it through the closures. It was especially upsetting because they were always busy every night and the continued restrictions in California were too much for them to afford to hold out until people could return.

I found this meme to be a funny representation of how important technology became during quarantine. People relied on it to stay connected, complete work, and go to school along with general entertainment to avoid boredom and burnout.

This meme leans into a lot of the anxiety at the beginning of the pandemic. There was a lot of information circulating regarding all of the little things you should be doing to protect yourself like washing your hands, sanitizing your groceries, and not touching your face.

I found this to be an interesting example of how people have used humor to cope with quarantine and the pandemic, and actually ironically reflects how a lot of information has spread. While relying on social media for reliable news is not typically advised, it can be less overwhelming than professional media and reflects the day-to-day perspective more accurately.

My mother worked at several hospitals throughout the beginning of the pandemic, as there were nurse shortages. At this particular location, she working in several units including the ICU, outpatient surgery, and distributing vaccines. This is important to me because seeing my mom dressed like this and hearing about how she worked in multiple places any given day put into perspective how dire the situation was and continues to be.

When the pandemic first broke out out, many people didn't know what to think. In millennial and gen z fashion, many young adults turned to the internet to crack jokes and voice their opinion about the upcoming crisis. This meme pokes fun at the uncertainty of the viruses' signs and symptoms many medical and governmental officials had at the beginning of the pandemic. The mem also pokes fun at the idea of teenage angst and anxiety a rapid number of young adults are starting experience more and more during this recent decade. The pandemic may cause your nose and mouth to not feel anything but the real question is if young adults are really "feeling" the impact of what is going on? A Forbes report in April of this year has indicated that young people between the ages of 18-24 are starting suffer from more mental health problems than any age group since the pandemic started. Think what you will but this study definitely proves that more young adults will suffer long lasting effects of pandemic during and after the global crisis comes to a end.

While this is not me, it is still important to me since it is my mom. She has worked in the COVID ICU almost the entire time, and I was really affected by seeing her gowned up like that the first time. Her career during my lifetime has not required so much PPE, so it was a really surreal moment that forced me to really appreciate the extremity of the pandemic and how much danger my mom was in.

I worked the polls at Nevitt Forest Elementary during the 59th presidential election. The lines were crowded at 6:00 prior to the polls official opening at 7:00. The energy in the voting room was definitely mixed--some determined, some anxious, and some angry at the previous conditions of Trump administration of 2017-21. Although the energy of the election results are still mixed today still, this meme reflects one of the more amused and joyous reactions of the election turnout. Thus, using one of Trump's infamous lines of his famed tv show Celebrity Apprentice, this meme pokes fun at the importance of public ratings not only in pop culture but in politics as well.

This audio recording describes a vacation my family and I took during the pandemic. A lot of the attractions were closed due to the virus, so we had to find other things to do while maintaining safety protocol (social distancing, masks). It was frustrating but we managed to still have fun.

This audio recording describes my grandfather's funeral at the beginning of the pandemic. It was very difficult because my family couldn't grieve together. We had to have separate services ten people each. We could not have any other family come because we were on lockdown. The whole situation was extremely sad because the pandemic kept our family apart during a difficult time.

This tweet reflects an ongoing controversy of the Covid-19 vaccine. The media has reported a hesitancy of the mRNA vaccine amongst the black community, but with little to no context on why there is such hesitancy. Based on the history of the U.S. public health institution, there have been reported inequalities that include a racial hierarchy within the medical system. This tweet specifies the instances of medical malpractice committed towards people of color and insists on an understanding of racial inequality through the lens of people of color that led to skeptical feelings about the vaccine.

The challenges of both COVID-19 and the lockdown illuminated the disproportionate burden black and brown communities have been facing with jobs, communities, and police. In the midst of the profound trauma of George Floyd's death, many communities had to come together to address what parameters were they enforcing for both the health and safety for its member. Many protest like the one shown in Anderson, South Carolina took place May-August of 2020 to demonstrate how a growing pandemic forced individuals to think about others' vulnerabilities--specifically those inflicted from police brutality.

My co-workers in EMS have described to me the spectrum of symptoms they have seen from Covid 911 calls. The 'Covid toe' is one of the most perplexing symptoms of the disease, along with long-term health consequences from the virus. The unpredictability of symptoms is one of the virus' strange hallmarks.

Eastern Washington and other small towns in Washington are having so many extra deaths from Covid, they are having to bring in refrigerator trucks to store the bodies before they can be buried. This information is still not enough for some people to get vaccinated and try to stop the spread of Covid. Many areas, like in Wenatchee where this article originated, are struggling to keep up with the influx of unvaccinated sick people and are having an even harder time trying to find a place to put their bodies.

This picture was taken on Christmas Day of 2020. Due to my cancer diagnosis, a weak immune system, and the need or me to socially isolate Christmas gifts were delivered by the matriarch of my family, my mother. Adjusting family holiday traditions has been another consequence of Covid.

This is a recording I did of myself where I reminisce on my Covid Vaccine experience and the feelings it brought

EMS is facing unprecedented challenges in the age of Covid. Response times are up due to the extra 911 call volumes, not to mention first responder burnout contributing to staffing issues. How has EMS been affected in your area?

Unfortunately, Covid-related violence is on the rise with the reality of mask mandates. This problem poses a real risk for retail workers and others whose jobs require working with the general public. Several department stores in my area have hired security guards due to this problem. I have had several friends and acquaintances leave jobs in retail recently due to experiencing customer aggression on the job.

My dog, Via, was born the year before the Pandemic began. Almost two-thirds of her life has been spent with both her people home all the time and she enjoys it. One of our favorite Covid safe activities is driving out to the beach early on a Friday or rainy weekend when we know nobody will be out on the beach. Via can run for hours and the beach is her favorite place to do it. She loves to dig and find crabs or look for birds on the horizon. I don't feel comfortable taking her out in public because of Covid and I don't want strangers coming up and asking to pet her so she mainly lives a solitary life now with her family. I don't know if that is good for her or not, but I constantly worry that Covid is messing up her life and her socialization.

I have been lucky in this pandemic. My partner was able to keep his job and with the pause on student loan payments, we were able to save enough money to put a downpayment on a house. Quarantine and working from home have allowed the both of us to explore hobbies we have always wanted to have but couldn't because of the time spent commuting or lack of space because we were renting. I was able to start my own herb garden and it flourished. I have learned a lot about myself during the pandemic, and one of those things is that I love gardening and working with plants. I know we have been so much luckier than so many people and that often creates feelings of guilt in me. I don't like sharing my happy stories because so many people are having a hard time right now. I do think the good stories are just as important as the stories of hardship. I don't take what I have for granted and my partner and I still try to donate and help out where we can, but nothing has brought me happiness like my herb garden.

How have you and your family handled vacations and outings since the pandemic began? With popular vacation destinations becoming a hotbed of Covid exposure and infections, travel has become challenging. Many have chosen to forego or pause vacations in the age of Covid. National parks are a good alternative to crowded beach locations, as these parks give us opportunity for socially-distanced camping and hiking without the dangers that indoor entertainment venues pose.

Idaho hospitals are so overrun with Covid patients and so understaffed that they are drowning. Idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation and many people are getting sick. Many hospitals on the border Idaho shares with Washington are choosing to send their sick patients to Washington. This in turn is adding to the burden carried in Eastern Washington. Many healthcare workers in Idaho are burnt out and they are helpless because of the divisiveness caused by politics and Covid.

Grays Harbor County is having a Covid spike that is mainly affecting the unvaccinated population. This is adding stress to the testing facilities in the county and causing issues with hospitalizations.

This is an audio recording about my family's challenges in being with my father when he had a stroke in December of 2020. Forced distancing during family emergencies can be quite a scary experience.

This was a photo from my seat at my first mariners game back since the beginning of Covid and the last game of a great season. IT was an emotional game because they lost their wildcard spot, it was probably Kyle Seager's last game as a mariner after 10 years, and it was my first time in the ballpark since 2019. It feels like we are getting back to normal even though I am still hesitant to jumping back in.

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.

The coastal town of Elma, Washington has been hit hard by Covid. The smaller-sized hospitals are overrun with Covid patients and the burden being put on healthcare infrastructure in the area is massive. People are having to wait hours for care at local hospitals and chances are if you call an ambulance, it will not be able to take you to a local hospital. The extra driving is eating up the EMS system's time and causing issues with getting care from emergency services.

Finding humor during the pandemic has been hard, but we still find our way. Washing delicates turned into washing masks during the pandemic.

This meme provides much needed comic relief while also pointing out the dangers to physical health and well-being due to Covid social distancing procedures. Being creative about maintaining a healthy diet and exercise regimen is an important response to the evolving pandemic. Has Covid changed the way you eat? If so, how?

Like so many other children, we were unable to have a birthday party for my son when he turned 5. The COVID numbers were rapidly rising in Tucson last August and it would just be too unsafe to have people together to celebrate. In order to still plan something special, I made a Mario-themed scavenger hunt around town for my son so he could still see some family and friends. I made a bunch of Toads and hid clues inside and made masks of different characters, such as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, etc. Starting at our house, the Toad on our front porch had a clue for my son, telling him that he had stolen his birthday present and to get it back he'd have to solve the clues. This led us from house to house, where my son would search for another Toad and another clue, while our family and friends pretended to be the different characters using the masks. Staying outside, they were all able to wish him happy birthday and hand off a birthday present. In the end, my son solved all the clues and Toad "returned" his birthday present back at our house, which was a Nintendo Switch (which was itself difficult to purchase at this time because there was such high demand with limited supply). While it wasn't a traditional birthday party, it ended up being a lot of fun and something that he still talks about. We were able to record clips of his different stops and put it together in a short video. The pandemic really made us have to rethink how we celebrate birthdays but in some cases it created unique experiences that were even more special.

We all need some comic relief from time to time when the stress of Covid becomes too much. Social distancing and quarantine measures, while necessary to slow down the spread of the virus, has nevertheless affected those who crave human closeness and interaction. Those who suffer from social anxiety must now balance health and emotional/mental health needs in new and creative ways.

Covid has changed family traditions, including the way we celebrate kids' birthdays. This picture is of my youngest niece on her birthday. We had a 'drive-by' birthday celebration where friends and family drive past the house and honk to acknowledge her special day. This development of the Covid age has been a difficult transition for all of my family members as social distancing has changed the way we handle even the most ordinary of events. How has Covid changed your family's traditions?

In the age of Covid, misinformation and disinformation runs rampant and we must meet this challenge with unconventional methods. The use of wrestling events to convince people to get vaccinated demonstrates a gendered response to the problem. What does a 'masculinized' approach say about rural and/or Appalachian culture? Is it now considered weak to comply?

My name is Ella McMullen, I live in Nampa Idaho. I go to Lone Star middle school. When Covied-19 started I was 11 years old, Covied has affected millions of people. My family is one of them. When my mom and dad got covied my brother, sister, and I all went to live with my grandparents. We lived with my grandparents for about 3 weeks. While we were living with my grandparents, my mom got the bad side of Covied. She ended up having to go to the hospital, she had to go because of her breathing. She had to have around 14 litters of air while she was in the hospital. Thankfully, she was only there for about a week. When she got out, she had to still be on air. So, it was difficult when we had to go out because we had to make sure we had the air tank full, and we had an extra one with us just in case. My mother was on air for about 6 months. After my mom got better, she was really stressed. My dad was still sick, but he thankfully did not go to the hospital. My dad was only sick for about 2 weeks. He got the safer side of covied. That is how covied affected my life.