COVID-19: REPORT

A collection of stories about how the pandemic touched our lives.

Journalism student Taylor To stands in front of the Lillis Business Complex in her cap and gown. Now in her final term at UO, she’s feeling the pressure to land a job for after graduation.

Photo by Kezia Setyawan

There’s nothing more universal than uncertainty —especially right now.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. It affected our families. It forced us to adjust to a steady sense of uncertainty and confusion. We endured more than felt bearable. And we achieved more than felt possible.

But in the end, we are honored to share these stories of people in our communities who inspired us and ultimately made life seem a little less bleak.

We hope this issue of FLUX serves as a time piece of sorts—helping remind us all that we weren’t alone in a time of so much uncertainty. We were, as the unofficial phrase of the pandemic goes, “all in this together.”

FACE MASKS are recommended for safety by the CDC, and notable tech company Apple has donated over 20 million of them as of May 13, 2020.

SIX FEET is the CDC recommended distance to maintain from others while socially distancing

291,961 COVID-19-related deaths have been confirmed worldwide as of May 13, 2020.

In the United States, the number of known cases is doubling, according to the CDC, about every 4 WEEKS

146K people, on average, are tested per day in the U.S. for Coronavirus according to the CDC.

THE NEW NORMAL

Written by Jewel Turner

Every other night it’s the same routine: sit down in front of the fireplace, prop up the iPad, hit record, and start reading. Today, the book is “Pete the Cat.” This is part of the new routine for teaching, and our home is her new classroom. This is the new normal.

My stepmom, Michelle Turner, is a transitional kindergarten teacher at Los Medanos Elementary School in Pittsburg, California, which is exactly as it sounds—she teaches students between preschool and kindergarten, and they are all between the ages of four and five. As someone who has spent 23 years of her life teaching young kids, she loves her job and her students more than anything.

“Online teaching for TK is very different,” she says. “The process was a bit daunting in the beginning. My teaching friends have helped tons, first of all by letting my TK’s join in their Kindergarten Facebook group. We have spent countless phone calls bouncing ideas off of each other about how to make this work.”

Even though Michelle is now working from home, she still follows her school planner and films daily lessons for the kids to watch.

“One of the lessons I post weekly is a Super Science Thursday lesson, where we do an experiment together. I want them to still watch the experiment, and if they have the supplies at home, then they can do the experiment at home. I just don’t want them to go out of their way to get the supplies. I want them to make sure they are staying safe.”

Despite the difficulties she and her students are facing—such as accessibility, how to learn from home, and how to teach from home—her school district is still doing anything it can to keep the children’s spirits high.

“My school had a teacher parade! Our parent volunteer coordinator made the parade route and sent it out to the parents so they knew when it started and where we would go. It was so fun and so hard all at the same time! We had a huge line of decorated cars and everyone knew when we were coming. Everyone was honking, windows down. The kids and their families had signs and were cheering for us like we were famous. It felt so good to see their faces and to see the smiles when they saw their teacher.”

Michelle is doing her best to stay positive for the students, but she can’t wait until this moment in time is a distant memory. “I miss my kids, my friends, my room. My school is my home.”

FAR FROM HOME

Written by Emily Scarvie

It’s a typical morning during the COVID-19 pandemic for Emery Thanathiti. She’s just woken up on her living room couch. Again. Recently, she’s been up late most nights, sometimes falling asleep on the couch before she can make it to her bed.

She often stays up late working on projects, gaming, or calling family members. Having family in Thailand means news or an urgent message could come in at any hour.

Like most days, she’ll be spending today alone. The majority of her friends left Eugene, Oregon, amidst the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. Her plan was to stay and work post-graduation from the University of Oregon, but with the current pandemic, many employers have imposed hiring freezes and canceled internships.

“For me it’s always been a long-time goal to work in the U.S. because there aren’t many media opportunities back home,” Thanathiti, a 2020 master’s graduate in journalism, says. “So the thought of losing this opportunity—I couldn’t even think about it. But that also meant not being able to see my family.”

Thanathiti, 25, has been living in the U.S. for the last seven years. She came here from Thailand to study, and only goes home once or twice a year. Because of her visa standing, she was able to apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT), allowing her to stay and work for 12 months after graduating.

As the pandemic spread across the U.S., she began to wonder if the opportunity she’s always desired still remains here, and within her OPT period. Because many countries have already closed their borders and begun enforcing strict travel restrictions, the decision of whether she’ll stay or go to be with her family remains on her mind every day.

“If the Thailand borders close, I’m probably just going to give up my opportunity and go back and be with my family because I don’t know when they’ll reopen,” she says. “Everything is just a big ‘I don’t know’ right now.”

Sunny Kim and her husband Hong Yung Kim visited the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve in Los Angeles County on April 20 despite the statewide stay-at-home order. Two days later, state officials put roadblocks in place to deter further visitors.

Photo by Delaney Young

Despite the pandemic, my father, Greg Wayt (right), has continued working to fill the shelves at local grocery stores with ice cream and other Umpqua Dairy goods. While I worry about my father, an essential worker, I feel immense pride knowing he is helping people get their food.

Photo by Elle Wayt

Electronic dance music producer Kelly Gehlen, known by her stage name “Kellalit,” talks over FaceTime with her friend and fellow musician Timber Manning after performing a set via livestream. Upon seeing what a crowd is saying about her in real time, Gehlen says she’s ‘never felt so loved.’

Photo by Sarah Northrop

OUR HERO

Written by Erin McMahon

Sometimes. in the middle of the night, I’ll wake up to a porch light shining through the blinds. That’s how I know she’s gone.

My mom, Eileen McMahon, has been a surgical nurse at Providence St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California for 25 years now, so I’m used to waking up with her not being home. She leaves early in the morning, around 6 a.m. and doesn’t get home until 4 p.m. On top of that, if she’s on call, she could be gone anywhere from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m.

Growing up, I took a lot of pride in my mom being a nurse. Not only is she my hero, she’s been one to complete strangers too.

But now, I’m a lot more hesitant to let my mom be someone else’s hero.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, society has been forced into a new normal. For families of healthcare workers, it seems almost unfair to even call it normal.

For the past few weeks, I’ve watched her come home, take off her scrubs at the front door, and run upstairs to shower as if it were protocol. Overwhelming guilt envelopes me as the only thing I can really do to help is to do well in school and make dinner.

I find myself asking, “Why my mom?” and feeling really selfish for it.

I’m still proud of her for being a nurse, now more than ever. But my family and many others like ours are being tested. Every day is scarier than the last, but we’re trying to conceal the fear for the nurse or doctor in our family, so that home can take some form of normal.

Hero Eileen McMahon, BSN, RN, CNOR, assists with surgical procedures on COVID-19 patients. covid-19 coverage

Photo courtesy of Recsy Manembu

Photo by Lucas Warner

A PLUMBER'S PLIGHT

Written by Halie Steward

When a door closes, a window opens.

After a few minutes of waiting, Kai Zito joins the Zoom call I’ve invited him to. He’s never used the app before and can’t figure out how to turn on his microphone, or his audio. He waves and mouths hello a door to me, a big smile on his face despite the circumstances. He’s been quarantined in his apartment for over a week and is now unemployed, but that hasn’t affected his positive attitude.

Like millions of Americans, 22-year-old Zito was recently laid off as an indirect result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I first started following Zito in early February; he had been a drain technician at Roto-Rooter, a Eugene-based plumbing service, and had no desire to change that.

Once the pandemic hit, his plans came to a screeching halt and he had to reassess.

This isn’t the first time Zito has had to make a life-changing decision quickly. Being a drain technician wasn’t his original plan—he used to be a student at the University of Oregon studying communication disorders and sciences.

In 2016, just as he was preparing to start his second year at the UO, Zito learned that his full-ride scholarship had unexpectedly been revoked. He filed an appeal and failed, leaving him without any financial support for the upcoming year.

“It felt like nothing was going my way,” Zito says.

Zito stepped back and reconsidered his plan for life, ultimately deciding college wasn’t for him. His father suggested a career in the trades, so he embarked on a new path at Roto-Rooter, where he spent about a year and a half working. He found a career he loved and had no plans on changing it. But the decision wasn’t his to make.

Three weeks into March, Zito got a call from his manager telling him to take the week off and to come in that Friday for a meeting. He knew what that meant; the company had already cut his hours from full time to part time, laid off all apprentices and people in training, and laid off an office employee.

“Work had slowed down, and people were getting nervous about having us go in and out of their houses,” Zito says. “I guess it was my time.” He was the next newest person at Roto-Rooter.

Across the nation, businesses in every state are facing layoffs, just like Roto-Rooter. Unemployment in the month of February was 3.5%; at this moment it is almost 15%, with people panicking to find their next jobs.

Since being laid off, Zito says he’s been going “stir crazy.” He’s gone from working up to 60 hours a week (with only 60 days off the entire year) to nothing. He’s been spending his time filling out job applications, filing for unemployment, and applying for the Oregon Health Plan.

He does find enjoyment in his days, hiking, going on drives around Eugene, and shooting with his friends.

“When you’re busting your ass every day for 20 days in a row, having free time is kind of nice,” Zito says.

He’s also been binge-watching a show called Hart of Dixie—he spent about 10 minutes explaining the plot to me in depth after I told him I had never seen it.

Three years ago, Zito was a college student planning on getting his masters degree. Three weeks ago he was a drain technician who loved his job. Now, he’s getting ready for another big transition.

In terms of the future, Zito plans to move to Tennessee with his family and join the Army Corps of Engineers or become a police cadet, starting a new chapter different from anything he’s done before. Although he’s unemployed, Zito is hopeful for the future.

“Being laid off kind of sucks, but as my mom always says, ‘When a door closes, a window opens.’”

ANOTHER BROTHERHOOD

Written by Camryn Privette

Photo by Kezia Setyawan

You have to show some courage at times.

Niles Burton is used to cooking for big crowds. For the last 15 years, Burton worked as an in-house cook, whipping up meals for members of various fraternities and sororities at the University of Oregon. Most recently he’d been the head chef at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house, which closed its doors after the university’s decision to hold classes remotely for the spring term because of COVID-19.

Suddenly out of a job, Burton started cooking for a different crowd—Eugene’s homeless community.

While he still had to face the challenges of sudden unemployment himself, Burton turned to look at the people in his local community who are less fortunate. “I had to do something to help. I can rationalize it at other times, but I can’t rationalize not helping now,” says Burton.

This wasn’t Burton’s first time contributing his cooking skills to philanthropy, however. He used to do weekly shifts at Eugene’s First Christian Church, where he made hundreds of tuna or peanut butter sandwiches to be dropped off at various food banks in the community.

While Burton has still been following the six-foot social distancing measure during his volunteering shifts, he isn’t the least concerned about contracting the virus.

“If I get sick, I get sick. I’m not an overly courageous person, but you have to show some courage at times. If you’re worried about protecting yourself your whole life in every moment, what does that say about your humanity?”

For Burton, many aspects of life during the COVID-19 pandemic remain uncertain. One thing is clear, however: this is time he must dedicate to making meals for those in need.

“For however long we’re in this tough position and it’s possible for me to volunteer, I’ll continue to do my part.”

COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Older adults and people who have severe underlying medical conditions like heart or lung disease or diabetes seem to be at higher risk for developing more serious complications from the COVID-19 illness, according to the CDC.

$6 TRILLION of government spending in United States alone has gone towards stimulating the economy in response to the coronavirus as of April 2020, with the number growing every day.

ASSURANCE

Written by Lauryn Pan

Typically a maker of liquor, Thinking Tree Spirits has repurposed its business to make hand sanitizer to meet local demand.

The sound of phones ringing off the hook echoes throughout Ryan Hoffstot’s empty Farmers Insurance office in Creswell, Oregon. As the only employee at the office since Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s stay-at-home order began, he’s the one who must pick up the phone time and time again—something he doesn’t particularly enjoy. It could simply be a friend. Or, as it’s been more recently, it could also be a desperate client begging for advice on how to save their business.

Many of his small family business clients have had to shut their doors, but not without Hoffstot spending hours on the phone with them counseling them through this hard time.

“It’s taken an emotional toll on me,” says Hoffstot. “I connect with my clients on more than just selling insurance. It’s that kind of relationship. It’s a friendship.”

After weeks of scrambling to help his clients, that emotional toll started to seriously overwhelm him.

“After hearing the stress and pain in their voices, I have to take 20-30 minutes at the end of the day to collect myself and put a happy face on before coming home to my family,” says Hoffstot.

In a moment of clarity, however, Hoffstot decided that he wasn’t going to let the negative aspects of his job during this time stop him from aiding his community. Many of Hoffstot’s clientele are local restaurant owners, so he knows that they need his support as not only an insurance agent but as a customer. Wanting to also give back to first responders, Hoffstot bought food from various different local restaurants and even supplied them with lunch.

He went to Mandy’s and Chicken Bone for Station 1 Firefighters and the Eugene Police Department and Kona Cafe for a small clinic in Creswell.

“I am trying to help people in their everyday life instead of trying to sell insurance now,” says Hoffstot. “Some things are more important than money.”

LIFTING SPIRITS

Written by Lena Felt

Almost every day in April, a long line of cars and bicyclists formed in front of Thinking Tree Spirits, a local distillery in Eugene. But the drivers and riders weren’t there for the usual order of gin, rum, or vodka. Instead, they came for one highly sought-after product: hand sanitizer.

Upon COVID-19’s arrival to the United States, hand sanitizer quickly became one of the most difficult-to-find goods in grocery stores due to an increased need for household germ-killing products. Emily Jensen, owner and co-founder of Thinking Tree Spirits, quickly realized that her business produces one of the key ingredients in hand-sanitizer: ethanol.

Alcohol production would no longer be Thinking Tree’s focus. Jensen’s business had a moral responsibility, she says.

“This is like having an injured person in the back of your car and not speeding to the hospital,” says Jensen. “We’re sitting on ethanol to make hand sanitizer with and we’re not going to do it? Come on, that would just be wrong.”

In the course of just 30 days, the distillery became fully dedicated to creating pharmaceutical-grade hand sanitizer. Jensen says her business is prioritizing getting the product in the hands of those who need it most, including the city of Eugene’s fire department, police department, healthcare providers, and local business owners.

“The response has been massive, absolutely massive,” says Jensen. “I’ve been really impressed with the community support and the organizing from up top all the way down to everybody in our neighborhood.”

During this time, Jensen and her team are working double-time to sustain the new supply chain. Jensen receives hundreds of calls a day from businesses around Oregon wanting to place bulk orders for their stores.

Jensen says her team is working with Oregon Health Authority to supply bulk orders at $24 a gallon to the state of Oregon to help get it out across the state as quickly as possible.

“This is, I believe, an opportunity for us to take note of how we can care for one another and slow down and show up for each other in a whole new way,” says Jensen. “I genuinely believe that this unites us in humanity.”

Jensen reads up to 50 emails a day from front-line workers thanking her for making their jobs safer.

“I feel really blessed and lucky that we get that feedback right now and that we can actually participate in the solution instead of just being mad or frustrated or broken and in grief,” says Jensen. “We’re so, so lucky.”

UO senior Jonathan Roensch celebrates his 22nd birthday in the time of COVID-19. The cake, he says, does not fill the void left by the absence of his closest friends and family.

Photo by Julian Croman

Revs. Peter Do and Garry Cappleman taped photos of parishioners to chairs to while broadcasting weekly mass from the St. Thomas More Catholic Newman Center in Eugene.

Photo by Julian Croman

Digital signs such as this one on I-5 N toward downtown Portland have been reminding drivers of the stay-at-home order issued by Gov. Kate Brown.

Photo by Shyann Montgomery

The Fourth Street Bridge in downtown Los Angeles sits empty during rush hour on April 5, 2020.

Photo by Delaney Young