Christ over Covid-19: Coronavirus in the United States

By Ngozi Iwuoha

I live in New York, one of the Epicenters of the pandemic. I kept a journal during the worst days of the health crisis. This book contains most of my daily experiences.

This book is a keepsake. The story may seem familiar but I assure you that you will reference it few years from now when this whole incident becomes foggy. Many lives were changed by the pandemic and we are struggling to come to terms with what hit us. Please take this journey with me.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664165113

Ngozi Iwuoha

Ngozi Iwuoha is married with two children. She holds a masters degree in business administration and is currently pursuing a masters degree in accounting at The City University of New york, Queens College.

Book preview

Chapter 1

I remember clearly the day we heard of the first case of COVID-19 in America. We knew it was coming. It was not a question of if but when. As we sat around the television set, reality dawned on us. It looked grim. The first reaction from the Federal government was not encouraging and that was the beginning of several weeks of uncertainty. That was the beginning of a long, tortured experience that would destroy the fabric of the nation. Statistics show that earlier on the number doubled every six days. As days went by, this would change to every four days.

Due to inability to get the test kits to states and private labs, the number of positive cases were very low initially but as testing increased, the number grew exponentially. On February 26th,2020, the CDC informed the nation of the first community transmission that did not result from contact with someone who travelled to another country.

This was a game changer. As at March 20th, the CDC had documented 15,219 cases. This number did not include data from state tests and private labs.

According to the Center for Disease Control, CDC, the symptoms included cough, fever, tiredness, respiratory difficulty. This may vary from one individual to another. Some patients had mild symptoms while some experienced life-threatening respiratory complications.

I live in New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus in the United States. The city was scheduled for a mandatory lockdown starting on March 22nd, 2020 at 8pm. All non-essential businesses were already winding down. The essential businesses such as hospitals, walk-in health facilities, veterinary and animal services, elder care, medical wholesale and distribution, home care, doctors, dentists offices, grocery stores, liquor stores, utilities, mail delivery, pharmaceuticals, food manufacturers, sanitation, uber, gas stations were to remain open with clear instructions to ensure social distancing and constant cleaning of surfaces.

It was already surreal even before the 8pm hour. Earlier in the day, I got word that someone I knew tested positive for the virus. We had not seen each other in a while but the information made it all so real. New York had the most positive cases in the country. The official number was 15,168 as at 2.45pm on March 22nd, 2020. That number was over half of the nationwide reported cases totaling 29,262.

It was 3.29pm and the mayor of New York city Bill De Blasio, was giving a press conference. He reiterated the need to isolate and stay at home. As I looked out of my window, I could see a few people walking, some in twos but mainly solitary. Anyone who has been to New York knows that empty streets are a rarity no matter what time of day or night.

At approximately 5.56pm, the President took to the podium for an update on the pandemic. We were never too sure what to expect from his briefing. As always, I was all ears. He approved disaster declarations for New York and Washington states. As he spoke, the number of positive cases worldwide grew to 329,000 and 14,300 deaths. He referred to the virus as a vicious enemy. The number of cases in the United states just topped 31,000.

Chapter 2

Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. Isaiah 26 v 20 King James Bible

It was 8.00pm now in New York and the stay-at home order had started officially. My phone conference prayer meeting was also starting. During the Lenten season our schedule changed from Wednesday and Thursday to daily. This year more than ever, this kept us connected and sane. It practically saved our lives.

Essential workers were up and about. All through the night, I could hear cars moving as life-saving duties were being performed. Occasionally, the sound of a siren is heard as ambulances and fire fighters respond to emergencies. I woke up several times during the night to pray for my city, the country and the world.

As at March 23rd, 2020, the W.H.O. had the number of confirmed cases as 242,360 worldwide and 9,869 deaths. Out of this number 35,054 were from the United States with 448 deaths. At 11.08am, the Governor Of New York, Andrew Cuomo, gave a press conference, during which he announced the approval of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine starting March 24th, 2020 for testing in New York. On the very controversial issue of testing, he confirmed that 16,000 people were being tested every day in New York.

Meanwhile, the majority leader in the senate was speaking on why the stimulus bill failed to pass cloture

As a stark reflection of how fast this pandemic was growing, the figures as at 5.20pm March 23rd had jumped to 342,778 cases and 14,748 deaths worldwide with The United States making up 41,113 of the confirmed cases and 455 deaths.

The president took to the podium at about 6.11pm to give an update on the pandemic amidst calls for hospital supplies such as face masks, hand gloves, and other protective wear. He informed the country of his plans to end the stay-at-home orders faster than anticipated. He stressed over and over again that the cure should not be worse than the problem. He gave a list of essential items donated by private and public companies and charities to FEMA. He also announced the distribution of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine throughout the country. He thanked the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for acting quickly. He also thanked the doctors, nurses, mail workers, grocery and restocking clerks.

On March 24th, 2020, I woke up feeling more relaxed than I had felt since the pandemic hit the United States. The United Kingdom had instituted a nationwide lockdown overnight. As usual, I turned on the television to get an update of the number of cases. The WHO figures were 371,358 worldwide with 16,491 deaths. The United States had on record 44,795 cases with 550 deaths. We were also informed that a couple in Arizona, had followed the President’s advice and ingested what they thought to be chloroquine. The man died while the wife was in critical condition at the hospital.

Here in New York, the governor had approved the use of Javits center, one of the largest commercial centers in New York as a healthcare unit with close to 1,000 beds. Universities such as my alma mater, City University Of New York and State University of New York, were being considered to house hospital beds. Even hotels were part of the consideration.

As at this point, the number of cases was doubling every three days and experts estimated a total of 140,000 hospital beds would be needed in the state in the next 14 to 21 days. Private hospitals were ordered to double their capacity from 53,000 to about 100,000 beds.

The president was already tweeting his new plan that would have people come out of isolation and head back to work to prop up the economy quite contrary to the expert advice of the healthcare community and Coronavirus Task force. The governor of Texas also backed up this radical idea to the consternation of other governors and the press. Some private universities took it up a notch by ordering their students back to campus.

By 3.04pm the same day, the United States hit the 50,000-mark prompting the WHO to categorize the U.S.A as the next epicenter for the spread of the virus. There were 411,000 cases worldwide.

AS at Wednesday, March 25th, 2020, almost 100 million Americans were under lockdown. There were 435,006 cases worldwide and 19,625 deaths with 53,221 cases in the United States and 709 deaths according to CNN in collaboration with John Hopkins University.

Among the new cases was Prince Charles who tested positive with mild symptoms. His wife Camila tested negative.

There was good news from China indicating a drop in new cases. Starbucks reopened 95% of its stores in China. For Spain it was not good news. She had surpassed China in the number of deaths. India joined the list of nations calling for lockdown. All 1.3 billion residents of India were told to shelter in place as cases surged.

The only continent spared so far seemed to be Africa and the world was trying to understand why. There were several theories being floated to explain this. Some said it was due to excessive heat in Africa. Others said COVID-19 was similar to malaria and as such, Africans had antibodies protecting them from the virus.

In New York, the epicenter of the virus in the USA, the number of cases had grown to over 30,000 and 285 deaths according to the governor. As the number of vehicles on the road reduced, the number of ambulances increased. I could hear sirens right now in our neighborhood. Eerie.

The president of the United states held his daily briefing. He praised the stimulus package as the best in history and encouraged the congress to pass it without delay. He informed the country of his meeting with nonprofit organizations earlier in the day. He thanked them for being at the frontlines distributing food, medical supplies and other necessities. He meandered from topic to topic ranging from unfair treatment from NATO allies to the negative effect of fake news on his re-election chances. We were back to a big, beautiful wall in the southern border. There was even a mention of Romeo and Juliet somewhere in the ramble.

Overnight, the number of deaths in the USA topped 1000 with New York city contributing to that number by over 200. Queens became the epicenter of COVID-19. We woke up to the news that there were 68,358 confirmed cases in the United States as at 3.57am.

The governor of New York, Cuomo, gave a detailed press conference. In summary, there were 37,258 who had tested positive. Out of this number, 5,327 were hospitalized, 1,290 were on intensive care and 1,517 discharged. He encouraged new Yorkers to be strong and think of first responders, doctors, nurses and grocery store cashiers whenever they felt tired of staying home and out of work. He appealed to our better angels.

I needed such a message because I woke up thinking about my chirped nails and missed going to the salon. I had