Residents react to the COVID-19 pandemic, 4 years later – newschannel20.com

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS)

The COVID-19 outbreak was officially declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020.

Its now been four years of new rules and regulations that were put in place as a response to the pandemic.

We spoke with residents about how much their lives have changed in the last four years.

In the past four years, COVID-19 has evolved from an unknown virus prompting social distancing to a more common part of society.

But while people have adapted, the virus had a profound impact on how some see the world and their own health.

Overall COVID was a soul sucker for a lot of people in a lot of towns. And you know, I mean, I think it's important just that we make a bounce back," said Springfield resident Vincent Vespa.

Many Springfield residents described the COVID-19 era as a worldwide crisis. Saying the pandemic made them aware of things that they may not have thought about before 2020.

I'm definitely a lot more cautious when I get sick and things like that because I don't know what it could be," said another Springfield resident Alex Cox. "I think it made a lot of people more weary of their health.

Dr. Vidhya Prakash said many of the hospital rules and regulations changed as a response to the pandemic, like requiring masks and social distancing.

What we had to deal with was the rapidly changing guidance. As we learned more about the guidance, we realized that isolation and quarantine guidelines were ever-changing, even treatment guidelines were ever-changing. So the key here was communication," she said.

Dr. Prakash said keeping up with all the new regulations was difficult, but that the healthcare industry did an amazing job quickly adapting to these updated rules.

"We learned the power of collaboration. We understood that we were better together, and we were making changes and standing up to this formidable enemy of COVID-19 together," said Dr. Prakash.

Residents said its hard to imagine what the world looked like before COVID-19, saying the pandemic created a new normal for them.

I think the willingness of people to wear masks when they're sick, has been a positive," Trisha Schlobohm, Springfield resident, said. "People are more likely to wear masks when they have a cold than they were. So, I think there's been some kind of overall improvements. You know, just being careful about spreading disease.

Residents said that while health has always been a priority in their lives, the pandemic increased their sense of urgency when it came to hygiene, wearing masks, and quarantining when sick.

According to the World Health Organization, there have been more than 700 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 7 million deaths from the virus, as of February 2024.

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Residents react to the COVID-19 pandemic, 4 years later - newschannel20.com