Dear Editor,

FOR eight straight days my family and I had been talking about the Corona Virus, renamed Covid-19. Mom told us it has some of the same symptoms like the flu, and that it is a new virus with no cure.

We have all been watching the news to get updates daily, and I learned that the virus started in China several months ago, and quickly spread to countries like America, Mexico, Africa, Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil and many more. It was only about a week ago someone came to Guyana with the virus, and the doctors and nurses could not help her and she eventually died.

Mom told us that at the time when the woman was hospitalised, the doctors did not know she had the virus. After they found out, they had to sanitise the entire area, and they tested her family members and some of them now have the virus.

It was all on the news, and I have been very worried ever since. So my brother and I have been taking our parents’ advice and washing our hands regularly, and ensuring we continue to use the hand sanitizers that we take with us to school daily.
Before we found out about the virus, a small bottle of hand sanitizer used to last me about two weeks, but now it finishes in two days, because I have been using more. Mom and dad said that I was wasting it, and showed me and my brother how to use it. Mom and dad had to go to Bounty Supermarket to buy us a few more hand sanitizers. In addition to using the hand sanitizer at school, our teachers send us to the washroom to wash our hands at every break, including lunch. Some days we have three breaks, and some days we have four breaks. Since we learned of the virus being in Guyana, the children have been coming to school with face masks and gloves. It is strange, though, that the teachers are not wearing masks, but mom said it is not really necessary, if the person is not sick. A scientist later came to our school and told us the same thing at assembly, but the students continued to wear their masks. At school, every single person has been talking about the virus. After the principal heard about the virus, she cancelled all our examinations and closed the entire school from March 16, 2020, and we do not have to return until some time in April. Mom said it is for five weeks, and she will be teaching us at home. This is one of my first assignments from her. I really do not like this new virus, because my school has been closed, and I have absolutely no contact with any of my friends. We have not even been able to go to the movies, or to play video games at the Mall. I am sure that the next thing that will happen is that I will have to stop Karate.

Regards,
Jared Johnson
Grade 5 Student, Mae’s Primary