COVID continues to confound

On March 13, 2020, Pennsylvania made the decision to fully shutdown all businesses, schools, restaurants, and many more facilities. Many people thought after the quarantine, humanity would resort back to what is considered normal. Yet, on December 9, the country, for the first time, experienced over 3,000 COVID-related deaths in one day. 

As of December 9, an average of 906 people per day have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. since January 20, when the first case was confirmed in the United States, according to John Elflein of Statista.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in 2017 the average daily death toll was around 7,700 people. The toll has now been raised to around 8,000 total deaths a day and one in nine (11%) of all deaths each day can be attributed to COVID-19 since January 20, 2020. 

The infection rate of the virus has been on the rise for nearly a full year and has caused many to become frustrated with the restrictions COVID has wrought. Archbishop Carroll senior Carly McHugh was one.

“I hope we have a good end of the year but at this rate I just don’t know,” McHugh said. “After being in quarantine all summer and only seeing half of my friends at school, frustrated is the only word that comes to my mind when describing my emotions.”

On the other hand, some people have seen the pandemic as a way to focus on several things they wanted to improve. Bryan Carter, a senior at Abington Friends and a former student at Carroll, said he saw the quarantine as a chance to work on himself and improve his life. 

“I had nothing better to do and I wasn’t comfortable being unproductive,” Carter said. “I made sure to set daily goals for myself including working out, eating three meals a day, and getting all my school work done on time. This was honestly a break given to us by the universe and it is only right we take advantage of it.”