91 Navigating Life in Isolation as COVID-19 Takes Over the Globe

Pakistan. I was 16 at the time. I had impressed my family by achieving straight A’s in the Cambridge O Level examinations. That was my last day in Pakistan until now. I remember hearing news about a virus spreading in China and in some parts of India. However, we couldn’t care less at the time, as my life was already going through major changes. We moved to Canada the next day, and I continued my education by starting 11th grade at a high school in Canada. This was a big shift in my life. New school, new education system, new society. It was a struggle just to get through my first semester of 11th grade. I thought it was the most challenging time of my life, but who knew what was about to happen next. In March 2020, COVID arrived in Canada, shutting down schools, markets, malls, and some workplaces. Initially, there was excitement when schools were closed, as going through school had been my biggest struggle at the time. However, as time passed by, the closure period extended. From weeks to months – no school and minimal studying. It started with the excitement of no school but later the isolation started hitting.

Thankfully, no one in my family contracted COVID-19 due to the extreme caution we all exercised during this time. The advertisements repeatedly shown on television about preventative measures were a great help. The extensive sanitation, spraying doorknobs, and staying away from each other as much as possible all kind of worked for us. We never had to completely isolate anyone in one room of our house strictly. However, the overall isolation from the outside world was not easy. It became a norm to not meet anyone, talk to just the three people in the house and that’s all. You wake up, do some online studying, talk to the same people, and sleep. Next day, repeat the same cycle. We followed these precautions for several months, avoiding any unnecessary outings. It was very much a full lockdown for about 6-7 months straight. However, we used to make our decisions about going out by looking at the news and how fast COVID was spreading in our area at the time. Most of the time, it was pretty high spread with a high number of cases, so we were home most of the time. The isolation hit the most when the school year ended. Who do I talk to? What is different to do? No traveling? All these things started bugging me. 

As mentioned, I had just arrived in Canada and had survived my first semester of high school. I made minimal to no friends, as expected, since I had only known my classmates for three months. Then, COVID arrived. The time when I was supposed to make the most progress in learning how to live in a different country was completely shattered. No progress made as a new immigrant. Time passed, and I  still had no friends. Grade 11 went by, and even in Grade 12, nothing changed: online classes and minimal contact with anyone in school. While studying at home felt comfortable at the time, it was devastating for my personal growth. I have no meaningful memories of high school in Canada.  Most of my family, including my mother, were still in Pakistan during the first three months of the pandemic. My mother tried to catch a flight to Canada, but most flights kept getting canceled as travel restrictions tightened. After a month of waiting, my mother was able to catch a flight, and she arrived in Canada. However, still we couldn’t go out and explore the new country we had moved to. It was the worst part of all. Another year and still living in isolation.

Obviously, it impacted my mental health. Living in a completely different country while facing such circumstances due to the pandemic felt like a double blow to my well-being. Surviving through it and keeping ourselves sane was the only option. However, I remember those years as sluggish, dark, and patience-testing. On top of that, being an introvert made it even harder. My introversion increased drastically, and my mental health took a toll. Finding strength in small things became an everyday norm.  Now, you can imagine how difficult it was for me to get out of this extreme introversion once the pandemic was over. Even during my university years after the pandemic, I mostly kept my distance from others. Even today, I am not as social as others, partly due to the pandemic. COVID affected my personality and mental health the same way it affected some people’s physical health.

Around the world, it was pretty clear how COVID-19 spread, its effects, and the preventative measures to avoid contracting it. All credit goes to the news channels constantly updating us about the pandemic situations. It was also pretty crystal clear that the virus originated in China. The first reaction I remember from most people was blaming the Chinese. Government authorities also blamed China. Moreover, many people I knew judged the Chinese for their lifestyle, believing it to be unhealthy since the virus had originated and spread there. I also heard news of Chinese people facing racism because of this.   

Another major reason COVID-19 spread so quickly is globalization. We have access to nearly everywhere and can travel across the world within hours. I remember that some of the first cases of COVID-19 in Canada were from travelers coming from parts of Asia. It started with travelers entering Canada and gradually began spreading to other areas. Globalization was indeed a big factor in the rapid spread of COVID-19, especially before any restrictions were there. 

Additionally, news channels constantly providing updates about the virus and what was happening around the world due to the pandemic were greatly helpful. The government was mostly transparent about how the country was responding to the virus and the changes happening in cities. They also provided clear reports on the number of deaths and infections in specific areas. Overall, I found this information to be immensely helpful in those times of pandemic. However, historically, this level of transparency was not always the case, as seen during the Influenza outbreak.   

Initially, some people were hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, just like we have seen in the past with smallpox vaccinations. Since the COVID-19 vaccine had some side effects, such as fever, headache, nausea, and vomiting, some people were reluctant to get it. However, this group of people was not that large. At least we were never among those people. Though side effects were there, the benefits of vaccination and the trust in science was also there. We knew vaccination was the thing that could effectively protect us. This was all due to the increased knowledge people now have about how vaccination works and how it protects against infections, which was historically not always the case. In the past, the Japanese attitude toward smallpox vaccination was quite different. They were not aware of the science behind it, but with the introduction of modern medicine, their attitudes changed. I feel grateful to live in a time when we are much more knowledgeable about modern medicine and the science behind it – thanks to the widespread accessibility of scientific information through the internet and a greater global emphasis on education.