The Lonely Year: How Wisconsin Handled COVID-19 in 2020

This story was written by Jay Stahl from reporting by, in no particular order: Elizabeth Charney, Tanner Duffney, Henry Dunsirn, Jack Fitzgerald, Darius Hayes, Thomas Hoffman, Audrianna Hutchinson, Shazdah-Lee Sequoya Juniel, Richa Ravindra Karmarkar, Michael Null, Noah Osen, Zachary Semancik, Grayson Sewell, Tanasia Shaw, Amanda Stahl, Niko Barrientos, Michael Colt, Everett Eaton, Derek Johnson, Haley Osness, Joseph Pethan, Prycilla Rodriguez, Jay Stahl, and Mitchell Stewart.

After moving over 115 miles to the City of Milwaukee, Meghan Morrison immediately felt the pressures of collegiate life during a global pandemic; attempting to avoid negative class grades in introductory courses and preventing positive COVID-19 cases in her college dorm room.

The De Pere, Wisconsin, native never dreamed that her first semester of college at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee would be so lonely. As a college freshman, there were no visits from her family, no trips home to her home state’s Fox Valley region, and few new real friends made.  

“It’s honestly very sad because we can’t have any visitors,” Morrison said. “I can’t have any friends or family come visit and my mom can’t see my dorm room.” 

Meghan Morrison’s freshman year may have felt lonely, but she was not alone. Like Morrison, millions of Americans missed out on driver’s licenses, sneaking Fake IDs into their college dorms, and the first year at a new university. 

2020 was the year of FOMO or fear of missing out. It was also the end of an American age, at least for now.

Millions flooded streets in small towns and big cities, drenched with sweat in the hot summer sun, to protest against roiling racial injustice. Nearly 160 million Americans headed to ballot – and mail – boxes in November to vote for a new president in the 2020 presidential election. Hundreds of thousands fell ill due to COVID-19, an upper-respiratory illness that can cause severe health implications. 

The virus, which is widely known as the coronavirus, changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites. In 2020, many of the state’s residents sat inside alone — watching Netflix in bed at home  — instead of sitting in packed bars, guzzling on brews, as the Green Bay Packers played on flat screens.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services COVID-19 data summary, the State of Wisconsin had registered 472, 153 positive cases of COVID-19 — 1 percent of those were deaths — at the time of publication. That’s nearly 500,000 Wisconsinites. 

These are the COVID-19 stories of those everyday Wisconsinites – including single mothers, small business employees, and college students – and their fears, frustrations, and newfound normal after the world shifted. 

What to Expect When You’re Expected to Be Essential 

Twenty-nine-year-old single mother Morgan McBride is an essential worker at an assisted living home in Waukesha, Wisconsin. When Gov. Tony Evers issued a “Safer at Home” order in late March, McBride still had to provide one-on-one care for older individuals. For her, that included making sure elderly individuals in her caseload were fed and well-kempt with fresh bedding and clothes.  

“When all this started in March they were telling everyone to social distance and avoid contact,” McBride said. “I basically laughed at that. I work five days a week, and my job is to help people in every way you can imagine. That involves touching them all day and definitely not keeping my distance.”

Then, McBride received a positive test result for COVID-19. Her 4-year-old son spent over two weeks with McBride’s parents. She did not feel safe caring for her son at night after spending days caring for the elderly. Following a 12-day-long battle with the virus, McBride recovered and reunited with her son. 

“I had to keep working,” McBride said. “I needed to pay rent and feed my son. Sending my son to live an hour away was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it put my mind at ease that he was safe.”

When Work Became Home

When Richard Null’s family was infected with COVID-19, the president of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin-based property maintenance company Alert Retail Services had to make a split-second decision. Due to being at-risk of death from the virus, Null – like McBride – decided to live at the company’s offices to keep himself and his family safe.

“I made the decision when my kids had gotten it,” Null said. “I grabbed my air mattress and told my employees to work from home so they could quarantine as well. My home essentially became my office.” 

After his kids recovered from the virus, his wife Carolyn contracted COVID-19 too. Null lived for around three weeks alone at his office, which was “grueling” on his mental health. 

“It became significantly difficult during the first week,” Null said. “Segmenting the time of when I was supposed to not be doing work became a blurred line, really. I started talking to myself because no one else had been around for so long.”

COVID-19 On-Campus

Most college freshmen spend their first year of freedom away from hometowns full of former reputations and feuds, embracing a seminal age in their young adulthood. 

During University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire freshman Annabella Zeman’s fall semester of college, there were no fake IDs or frequent weekend car rides to visit friends from high school at their subsequent universities on Saturday game days. There was COVID-19’s aftermath and, between the virus’s constant restrictions and tests, the pandemic tested Zeman’s patience.

“The coronavirus pandemic put a massive strain on the start of my freshman year, and I was constantly worrying about coming into contact with someone that was ill or asymptomatic and having to be sent home,” Zeman said. 

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire administration officials recently encouraged all on-campus residents to go home for Thanksgiving and return to the university at the end of January 2021. University dormitories remained open for student residents, but campus food service will not be offered until spring semester.

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire administration required student residents who lived on campus at UW-Eau Claire to be tested once every two weeks for the highly contagious virus.

The university mandated students who contracted the virus to self-quarantine for two weeks – and stay there – unless they received a negative test multiple times. 

Like Zeman, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee freshman Sophia Schillinger’s first year was anything but typical. Schillinger, who lives in on-campus dormitories, expected a different experience from her first semester at the school.

“I feel like most people including myself expected to have a really fun and busy freshman year, but this year it feels like there isn’t really much to do,” Schillinger said. “The social setting is much different than what I thought my freshman year would be like pre-COVID.”

Coronavirus restrictions have complicated on-and-off campus social events and made the collegiate experience far more difficult for freshmen, like Schillinger, who learn in a predominately online environment and live in campus dorms.

UWM dorm restrictions include wearing face coverings, sitting by yourself or socially distanced in campus buildings, and zero allowance of outside visitors. Campus resident assistants or “R.A.s” are typically responsible for organizing events for on-campus residents. This year has changed that. 

Maria Beilke, a third-year theatre education major at UWM, is a campus R.A. at the university. As a theatre education major, Beilke is used to collaborating with people in-person and helping others to express themselves through the arts. 

The happy-go-lucky college junior struggled during the fall semester with a healthy balance of responsibility as a campus R.A. and her ongoing response to the on-campus residents she serves. 

“There’s just another layer with everything, COVID and being an R.A.,” Beilke said. “I’ve had many incidences where students treat me like a punching bag while doing my job.”

When the Curtain – And Campus – Close 

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts’ calendar is usually littered with productions, events, and shows during a normal academic year. Like the hallowed grounds of Broadway in New York City where stars are born, the curtain has closed on normal activities for students at the Peck School of the Arts. 

Those closures have slowed degree progression for students, like UW-Milwaukee senior and theatre production major Jessica Llanas, who are pursuing careers in the arts. 

Llanas lost both of her jobs at the beginning of the pandemic. Her college career came to a halt. The fourth-year student had to move to part-time courses, since no shows in the theatre department meant no significant work for theatre production students. 

“Specifically as a theater production major, most of what we do is work in the shop and make pieces to be used in the shows,” Llanas said. “No shows means that there are no reason for making costumes or props or sets, no opportunity for students to learn lighting or sound.”

The pandemic arrived with a lot of uncertainty for students like Llanas. Classes have switched to online instruction, living situations have changed, and job security is at-risk for many everyday Milwaukeeans.

On March 25, 2020, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee officials announced that graduation had been postponed until a later date. College students at UWM have waited their entire academic lives – and especially four years or more – to drape themselves in a gown, turn their black tassels from left to right, and toss their caps in the air on the hardwood floors of UWM Panther Arena in downtown Milwaukee. 

For the UWM class of 2020, that day never came. Its aftermath had a significant emotional impact on students like Kenniya Martin, a 22-year-old who attends the university.

“I didn’t get to say goodbye to a lot of my friends who graduated – it’s also unclear whether there will be a commencement ceremony,” Martin said. “I realize that it’s probably the right thing for them to do, but it’s devastating as a senior to know that I have to abort my college experience on this really sad note.”

Martin is worried about how her post-graduation plans will be affected by the global pandemic. 

“This summer, I also plan on moving to Atlanta, Georgia, where I will try to get a paralegal job, but with the virus, it’s kind of hard,” Martin said. “I also have a graduation trip planned, but that might not happen because of the virus.”

At the UWM Welcome Center, prospective students and their parents tour UW-Milwaukee’s campus and have a chance to speak with the university’s academic advisors. The Welcome Center closed last March following Gov. Tony Evers’ stay-at-home order.  

UWM junior Hadiya Johnson has worked as a campus ambassador, or tour guide, at the university’s welcome center along with two other on-campus jobs. Student workers, like Johnson, have faced a culture of instability and unpreparedness since the university introduced its COVID-19 plan.  

“This impacted me a lot because I had to pick up a lot of shifts that were open due to shortness of staff,” Johnson said.  

Johnson, like many student workers, worried about the consistency of work when The Welcome Center moved online.  

“I might have to apply for unemployment because [the] bulk of my hours come from this job,” Johnson said. “For example, I only got nine hours at most in November online, but in-person I had 40 hours a week.”

Just a short three-minute drive north on Oakland Ave. from the UWM Welcome Center, where Johnson is employed, contemporary American hangout Harry’s Bar and Grill has stayed in business. 

While Harry’s is the opposite of your traditional college dive bar, the Shorewood-based bar and grill has a close proximity to UWM’s campus. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a decline in customers due to students, who normally reside in housing that surround the area, that have chosen to live in their hometowns with family. 

“[The number of customers] will probably stay down for a while,” Josh, a manager at Harry’s Bar and Grill who withheld his last name, said. “Especially through the holidays.”

Harry’s Bar and Grill’s main clientele is composed of more Shorewood locals than student diners, but the lack of student presence in the area has lowered the overall number of patrons at Harry’s.

“[We see] more students at night than during the day,” Josh said. “But I think a lot of them are at home this semester, since they can do school online.”

Harry’s Bar and Grill was able to supplement its restricted amount of in-person business through take-out orders and patio dining over the spring and summer seasons. The popular establishment will remain open with social distancing and mask requirements during the winter months. Josh told Media Milwaukee that campus activity will determine whether Harry’s will stay open through spring. 

How to Have A Pandemic Holiday

Abbie Stahl, a political science major at UW-Milwaukee, had been waiting for Halloween all year long. She had expected another gathering where she would grace her guests in a Hermoine Granger costume.

“I was planning on just having a few of my close friends over,” Stahl said. “It would’ve been no more than 10 people. I made sure everyone was comfortable with the guest list and I asked everyone to get tested before coming over.

Despite all the precautions she took, Stahl grew uncomfortable with the thought of having a party after all. According to the COVID Tracking Project, Wisconsin’s cases skyrocketed from just a little over 4,000 to over 5,000 in the few days before Halloween. It was only until a friend tested positive that Stahl decided to cancel her gathering.

“Honestly, I wasn’t that surprised,” Stahl said. “As it got closer to the party, I started to get worried because the cases were starting to rise. When my friend told me she was positive, it didn’t upset me much to have to cancel.”

Stahl was not the only one who had a change of  plans because of the pandemic. 

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student Hailey Beck went from going out every weekend with friends to months without seeing them since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Beck told Media Milwaukee that her family cancelled their annual Thanksgiving dinner with her extended family and was likely to do so with future holiday gatherings.

“I’ll only see people besides my family if we’re six feet apart, wearing masks and know that we’re both virus-free,” Beck said. “If I went out and gave the virus to my parents, I would never be able to live with myself.”

Beck, 24, said she had missed going out to bars and restaurants, but her personal safety and her family comes first.

Unlike Beck, 20-year-old Adam Schaefer has not let the global pandemic personally affect his life. At the beginning of the pandemic, Schaefer was social distancing. 

“I had it, and I was fine,” Schaefer said. “It’s all a scam, I won’t let this keep me from living my life.”

After Schaefer recovered from the virus, his opinion changed about the pandemic and he now believes that other people are taking COVID-19 precautions too seriously. 

“I understood it for the first few months when nobody really knew what was going on,” Schaefer said. “It’s time to stop living in fear and to just get back to our old lives.”

Has Student Mental Health Been Top of Mind at UWM?

In the picturesque coastal town of Portland Maine in the state’s southern region, UWM student Maggie Holdorf has been taking her UWM classes remotely. 

In an interview with Media Milwaukee reporter Mitchell Stewart, the college senior frequently expressed frustration with how the pandemic had affected her December graduation timetable, the gradual deterioration of her mental health, and the university’s handling of the pandemic. 

“I thought I had my mental health under control, but now, it’s just gone,” Holdorf said. “Emotionally, I would say it’s been difficult.” 

Holdorf criticized the university’s process and response to student issues throughout the pandemic. 

“It feels like a slap in the face, I know they are profiting off of this,” Holdorf said. “So many people are losing their jobs and can’t afford rent — there are all these barriers in the way to obtain an education already.”

More than 1,172 miles away from Holdorf, students living at UWM’s Sandburg Hall are experiencing a difficult set of circumstances that have taken a toll on their mental health. 

Max Kreeger has stayed in his dorm room throughout the duration of the fall semester and has rarely interacted with his suitemates, even though they had requested rooms together prior to attending the university.

“We don’t interact that much because there is less of a reason to leave our rooms,” Kreeger said. “So, if something was wrong with my roommates, like, if they felt they were getting anxious about being in close quarters then I would have no way of knowing.” 

Kreeger would like to be released from his full-year contract in Sandburg Hall, but has run into issues. He told Media Milwaukee that due to housing contract termination fees, the school would keep 85% of his funds for second semester. 

Derek Lee had the same experience as Kreeger; Lee felt that the isolation of staying in the dorms has contributed to his own set of mental health issues. 

“It’s definitely taken a mental toll,” Lee said. “Even though I have my friends and family to talk to, just being in my room all day with not much to do is really damaging.” 

In two separate interviews with our publication, The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Dean of Students Adam Jussel said that the COVID-19 pandemic is an extremely challenging time for students but acknowledged university efforts to ease student issues. 

“It is hard to go to school in the middle of a pandemic, especially when the UWM community ‘feels’ so far away,” Jussel said. “We do everything we can to help create that community in the virtual space.”

Jussel also said he wants to continue prioritization of the physical, mental, and emotional health of UWM students. He believes that the number of students who have reached out the Dean of Students has increased this semester due to the pandemic.

He also said that the pandemic has showcased some of the inherent inequities in some of our societal systems and structures, and that it is important to him that the campus continues to provide resources such as emergency funds, food pantry and technology loan programs.

“I think our community has done a fantastic job but can and must continue to look for ways to be better.”

Drivers Licenses, Sweet 16’s, and Social Distancing

At Waukesha North High School outside Milwaukee, the month of September began with in-person classes two days a week. When October arrived, COVID-19 cases continued to spike at the high school.  

Then, the school’s administration made a bold decision: increasing in-person classes to four days a week. 

Soon after, the virus began to spread like a California wildfire within the walls of Waukesha North. By the end of October, the high school’s entire football team was told to stay at home and quarantine.

Then, a significant amount of the school’s general population – including 16-year-old Waukesha North student Megan Osness – had caught COVID-19.

“I started feeling sick a few weeks after being in class consistently,” Osness said. “I knew right away that I had the virus.”

Osness switched to fully online learning and has no plans to return to in-person classes again.

“I was mostly annoyed,” Osness said. “I just wanted to see my friends and have things return to normal. I was irritated by the school changing the format over and over.”

When Sauk Prairie High School sophomore Tommy Pethan’s father and his brother caught COVID-19, Pethan was forced to quarantine and completed coursework remotely. 

“During the at-home days you have no help from teachers,” Pethan said. “It’s all homework, no teaching–I was also quarantined for a month, so I missed a lot of info.”

Pethan told Media Milwaukee reporters that classes at Sauk Prairie High School are almost two hours long and students are only required to attend four courses to lighten the course load. 

“You learn more, but it’s hard to pay attention for that long — COVID also took away socializing and fun activities like homecoming,” Pethan said. “Also, since classes are longer, we have less of them.”

The Most Negative Parts of Testing Positive 

During a regular shift serving drinks as a barista, Emma Prodehl felt her phone buzzing urgently in her pants back pocket. As she took a step off the cafe floor, she answered a call that she had dreaded. Prodehl’s friend, who then-tested positive with the global virus COVID-19, told her she should get tested immediately since she had first-hand exposure. 

“I remember feeling a wave of panic,” Prodehl said. “Since the pandemic began I had taken all of the precautions to prevent getting it and here I was going to get tested.” 

After the phone call, Prodehl left work to receive a COVID-19 at a nearby testing site. The next day, Prodehl woke up with full body chills and a headache.

“I woke up and it was kind of an uh-oh moment,” Prodehl said. “I hardly had the strength to move my body, and I just knew I had coronavirus.” 

Prodehl stated that she went through a series of different symptoms starting from chills and headache to losing her taste and smell within a night. 

“When I would eat different food I could sense that something was sour, sweet, or tart, but there was no actual flavor to them,” Prodehl said. “Your tongue remembers flavors, so I’d think I could taste but I knew it was in my head.” 

While working at shoe store Journey’s in the Brookfield Square shopping mall, UWM junior Steph Serrato caught the virus and tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 23. 

“I think I got it because of working at a mall and because the area surrounding that mall has a lot of people who don’t believe in wearing masks,” Serrato said. 

Like Prodehl, Serrato’s symptoms included sore throat, chills, fever, body aches, massive fatigue, exhaustion, congestion, and loss of taste and smell. But Serrato is still unsure of how she caught the virus. 

Some symptoms lasted long after Serrato tested positive testing positive. According to Serrato, their fatigue and exhaustion lasted months after carrying COVID-19.

The loneliness and isolation after Serrato’s COVID-19 diagnosis – spent alone while the autumn breeze arrived through windows – took a toll on their mental health.

“I don’t think I was doing the best before, but having covid forced me to spend more time in my thoughts,” Serrato said. “It was really raw and I feel that I’m suffering the consequences of that even now.”

One of those consequences? Serrato’s performance in school at UWM. While Serrato tried to balance the effects of COVID-19 with their education, it became increasingly difficult. They ultimately fell behind in nearly every fall semester course and eventually had to drop one class as a result. 

“I’ve never had these struggles before and asking for help in a school setting is new to me,” Serrato said. “It makes me feel disappointed in myself.”

For students, like Serrato, early December is the peak time for educational stress ahead of final exams. That is exactly when University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student Keelie Murphy-Besaw was diagnosed with COVID-19 by doctors. 

“As a young person, it’s easy to dismiss,” Murphy-Besaw said. “It’s just like a cold but worse. I am always tired and just mentally exhausted. The specialist said I should just be sleeping.”

With papers to write for professors and final exams to prepare for, Murphy-Besaw had little time for rest as the end of fall semester neared. She said that she received a positive test result after contracting the virus from her workplace. 

“It’s like, how do I explain to my professor that I’m just tired and that’s why I can’t do my work?”

Murphy-Besaw expressed frustration that she received the positive result from her workplace, which is something she cannot avoid. 

“I was probably not being as safe as others, but I still was being smarter than some other people,” Murphy-Besaw said. “I’ve seen people going to bars and they haven’t gotten it. I just got it from work.”

Murphy-Besaw wasn’t the only one who caught the virus at her workplace. 

Jasmine Salton currently works at an ever-bustling Culvers location, where lines run from the drive-thru out to the street, in Milwaukee suburb Shorewood and as an office assistant at the Department of Education.

Salton, a junior at University Wisconsin-Milwaukee is currently a community engagement and education major, has aspirations to become a Dean of Students. During the pandemic, Salton has practiced social distancing, wore face coverings, and sheltered in-place at home.

It was not enough.

In early November, Salton tested positive for COVID-19 after losing her abilities to taste and smell. She still has no knowledge of how she received the virus. As a result, both of Salton’s respective in-person jobs told her to quarantine for 14 days. 

“I almost wasn’t returning to The Department of Education, I was the only one out of the student workers who returned,” Salton said. There were four student workers [total] before COVID-19 at the Department of Education.

Despite testing positive for COVID-19, Salton told Media Milwaukee that she was relieved to have a break from work to focus on her coursework.

Personal Growth When The World’s Is Stunted

For UWM Political Science Professor Sara C. Benesh, teaching online during the Fall 2020 semester has put her at ease compared to last spring. In the spring, Benesh was forced to leave a class that she had just become familiar with.

“This fall was definitely easier than spring because we all knew what we were signing up for,” Benesh said. 

Benesh, who is the university’s political science department chair, said that the department’s cohort is luckier than other university departments because many of its staff members have been teaching online courses for years. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has still left her exhausted.

“COVID and the resulting budget difficulties means a lot of uncomfortable conversations and some push to get outside my comfort zone and think about everything at UWM in new ways,” Benesh said. “I’m uncomfortable, most days, but I suppose that’s the only way we grow.”  

Benesh, though, is not the only University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee staff member with optimism about a program’s future. 

Basler said that his teams have faced a number of challenges this year, including scheduling. According to Basler, the biggest difficulty for university coaching staff is creating a “competitive schedule” while other universities follow different restrictions and series of protocol.

“Many universities we would compete against in January are not allowed to practice or compete again until their school’s winter break is done at the end of January,” Basler said.

Despite the challenges, Basler said that a number of positives can be attributed to the hurdles his team has faced this track season. 

“The lack of a competitive season last year has led many student-athletes to head into this season with a new passion and drive,” Basler said. “I feel this past year has forced people to slow down and re-prioritize — people have had a chance to spend more time with family.”

Three’s Company: One Woman’s Three COVID-19 Diagnoses

A 21-year anonymous UWM student planned to treat COVID-19 as a slight convenience. Soon, they realized that it was impossible to do so while working shifts at Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin’s main hospital in Wauwatosa, a Milwaukee suburb. 

Anonymous had been diagnosed with Covid-19 three times in a 6-month time frame. However, it is highly contested by medical experts. It is possible that the patient, anonymous, tested positive three times. 

“I just went to the doctor, and they think that I have COVID-19 a third time, I don’t know what I’m going to tell my job,” Anonymous said. “I am also worried about my mom because she gets it with me.”

When Anonymous walks into her work at the hospital, she wears personal protective equipment (PPE) and follows the hospital’s COVID-19 guidelines. She has done her best to self-isolate away from fellow employees, but must have contact with patients. 

On multiple occasions, the UWM student said she tried to pinpoint where she went wrong, but she cannot think of anything but the masks.

“The CNAs on our floor get 1 N-95 masks that get switched out every 7 shifts,” Anonymous said. “They supposedly go through a UV (Ultraviolet) light cleaning process after every shift.”

Anonymous told Media Milwaukee that when she had COVID-19 the second time, her job wanted her to come back to work even though she still had symptoms.

After receiving a third diagnosis with COVID-19, her care doctor said she did not need to return to work. Anonymous is going to take this time to find another job that has less risk involved. 

She takes this as a lesson to prepare herself for a future job because their COVID-19 policy might not be the best for their employees.

Anonymous’s mom has gotten COVID-19 from her daughter twice and it has been difficult for her to be around her daughter without thinking about the virus. 

Anonymous is immunocompromised, so her immune system is weaker than the average person. This condition causes her to be at a higher risk of infection and disease than a regular person.

“This virus has really affected our family and has caused us to take precautions that we never thought we would take,” Anonymous said. “Even now I will have to stay away from my daughter for my own health,”

When asked about anonymous job at the hospital, Anonymous’s mom said her daughter should quit and find a better job. Her daughter wants to stay in the medical field, but Anonymous’s mom wants her to stay away from her current high-risk COVID-19 job. 

“It’s become a battlefield in the house to talk about her career and job changes,” Anonymous’ mom said. “Like any mother, I would be worried about what is happening in my daughter’s life.”

Catching Up with Family (And COVID-19)

“The most interesting thing that happened to me over the summer was that I got COVID-19,” University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee journalism student Niko Barrientos said. “It’s like nothing you’ve ever had before.”

At the beginning of the pandemic, the Barrientos family exercised caution and took measures to reduce possible risks of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.

As the pandemic continued, the Barrientos family yearned to visit its grandparents, who live in a sparsely-populated region in rural southern Missouri. The family planned a week-long trip that started on the Fourth of July weekend. The family quarantined before the trip and rented a car for the long drive. 

According to Niko Barrientos, they drove straight through the trip with minimal stops at gas stations to mitigate exposure to others. Unfortunately, the rental agency never sanitized the car that the Barrientos family was driving, which the agency later confirmed according to Niko Barrientos. 

“The first weekend was fine and then Monday came around,” Barrientos said. “The first person who showed symptoms was my dad.” 

Barrientos’s dad and grandpa went out fishing that Monday. When they returned, his dad kept saying how tired and worn-down he felt. At first, the Barrientos family thought it was just due to an early morning alarm for fishing. Then, his father felt tired on Tuesday morning and lost his appetite. 

According to Barrientos, at that point, the family thought it was his dad’s diabetes or allergies acting up — not COVID-19. 

“Then on Wednesday he was fine, he went from really tired and continually falling asleep to fine,” Barrientos said. “Thursday hit him like a freight train and it became apparent something was wrong.” 

On Thursday, questions about COVID-19 contagion started to arise with the family as the father slept all day. The Barrientos family thought about receiving tests in Missouri, but if they had tested positive, the family would be forced to quarantine in the state for two weeks. 

Friday of that week, the family packed their bags and drove back to Wauwatosa – only stopping for gas like before. On Saturday, Barrientos’ dad was tested for COVID-19 at a local hospital. By Sunday, the result came back positive. 

Immediately Barrientos’ mom made plans to get tested on Monday, along with her two sons, but fell ill Monday morning and had to reschedule. On Tuesday, Niko Barrientos fell ill. 

“One day, I had a lot of head congestion and felt like my head was about to explode,”  Barrientos said. “Another day I would just have a runny nose and be sneezing a lot or I would just be feeling very tired and weak.” 

 Barrientos told Media Milwaukee the virus was like being drained for full days. At a certain point, Barrientos struggled to get out of his bed and had to psych himself out because he feared collapsing when he tried to stand up. 

“So, it’s like ‘I have to go to the bathroom’ so you go to the bathroom and that’s it, I’m done, I’m completely out of energy for the day,” Barrientos said. “Just going down the hallway was hard, after I came back I would just lay in my bed for hours, because I had no energy.

An End in Sight

Long stories over the course of the pandemic have left him feeling physically and mentally exhausted. But with respective Pfizer and Moderna vaccines becoming readily available to the United States public, Dr. Karmarkar is full of optimism for new beginnings and a chance to siphon the virus.

Karmarkar said that realistically, this can be a possibility for every American about four to six months from now. Until then, Karmarkar said it is still our responsibility to follow proper COVID-19 guidelines so that nothing inhibits the chances of a return to normalcy. For those who may feel as if the pandemic’s effects are isolated to a certain demographic, Karmarkar heeded a word of caution

“While it’s true that COVID-19 hasn’t affected younger people to the extent that it has older people,” Karmarkar said. “younger people can be very efficient spreaders, meaning they still pose a high risk to older and adult populations if they don’t take enough precautions; in essence, they are continuing the pandemic.”

In Dane County, operating room pharmacy technician Alex Mohr has been optimistic about the accessibility of new information regarding the COVID-19 vaccines. 

Mohr said technician said that vaccines will not be mandatory for hospital workers at his place of employment, but those who do not wish to receive it will have to fill out a form with the reasoning behind their refusal so there is clear documentation. 

Mohr has seen recent changes in the medication distribution protocols of his Dane County hospital. He is unable to enter rooms where patients have tested positive for COVID-19. 

“Whenever a medicine goes into a COVID positive room and is unused, it is sent back to get sanitized was,” said Mohr. “If that product has paper packaging, then we’re throwing the entire item away because we can’t spray it down.” 

Due to new processes, Mohr must deliver medications to a designated member of staff or through a sealed pass-through rather than handing them straight to a provider.