When will the pandemic end?

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Alaina Christlieb, Staff Writer

Over the past year, we’ve all asked ourselves and still ask the same questions, “When will this end?” and “When will our lives return to normal?” And unfortunately, we may never go back to how our lives used to be before the pandemic. Many things have changed, and maybe some things will go back to how it was, but I don’t think everything will go back to normal.

When I first heard about COVID, I thought it was nothing to worry about. I felt that it wouldn’t get over here in America, and if it did, only a few people would get it, and it would be just like the flu. How wrong I was. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that restaurants, offices, banks, gyms, movie theaters, libraries, stores, big and small businesses, and schools would shut down. In the beginning, not going to school and being home with my family twenty-four seven was something I didn’t mind all too much. But after a month, I started to miss my friends, seeing my teachers, and attending classes. My family was also starting to get on my nerves. That’s when I first thought, “When will this end?” and that was only about a month into the pandemic.

People still went out, which caused them to get COVID and spread it to other people who were either also out or in their household. Because of this, COVID got worse, and regulations got more strict, and quarantine went on much longer. When the mask mandate came out, I remember not many people liking it. Those people decided to protest against masks, and because they were in close contact with others, they got or gave COVID, which made the quarantine go on for even longer. Many people at this point were probably all wondering, “When will this end?”

When places started opening up again, you had to wear a mask to enter. Once opened, some restaurants were only allowed fifty-percent capacity. Some people liked it, and some people didn’t, but everyone mostly followed that rule. That’s been going on for a while now, and many people are wondering, “When will this end?”

Some went full distance learning when schools opened up again, while others chose hybrid learning while others chose to go back full-time. Many schools had masks mandatory when on campus. I know many students who strongly dislike this and think, “When will this end? When will we go back to normal?” And the sad truth is that it may never go back to normal. We hope it will, but we won’t know until next year.

One thing that might be going back to normal slowly but surely is the mask mandate. “Governor Tim Waltz announced that he would drop the mandate on July 1, or when 70 percent of Minnesotans 16 or older are vaccinated, whichever came first.” (Richert Kathrine and Cox Peter. May 13, 2021. The state has lifted its COVID-19 mask mandate. Here’s what that means for you. MPRNEWS) In another article by the same authors and website called Minnesota mask mandate ends Friday, Walz pleads for more vaccinations, they say. “Calling it a great day for Minnesota, the governor continued to plead with unvaccinated Minnesotans to get their shots to help hold back the spread of COVID 19.” Walz said, “So, those peacetime emergencies are done, and the business mitigations are coming to an end. I want to be clear it’s not the end of the pandemic, but it is the end of the pandemic for a lot of vaccinated folks.” So, take that how you will.

Now it’s been over a year since the pandemic started, and everyone’s ready for it to end. We’re getting closer and closer, and eventually, this will end. Will our lives go back to normal, possibly. They also may not; we’ll never know until it happens.