Olivia Throop

Name: Olivia Throop

Grade: 12

1) Your dad works in the ER, so what does that look like on a daily basis for both you and for him?

“My dad gets a monthly schedule of shifts to work, so he knows in advance when he will work which could be any time during the week, day or night. When he is at work, he takes care of all different types of patients that come to the ER, and right now there are fewer patients at the hospital overall, but there is a large amount of COVID-19 patients. This is different from normal because all the doctors have to wear facemasks, face shields, and gowns for each patient in order to be as protected from COVID-19 as possible. I am a little bit worried about the higher probability of COVID-19 in my home, but I know that the people in my family are all healthy and highly likely to survive. Also, my family is completely removed from all other people, so even if COVID-19 does enter our home, it won’t be spread further.”

2) What are the safety precautions that you’re taking at home to stay healthy and safe?

“At home, we have been making sure to wash our hands and use hand sanitizer as much as possible. We use hand-sewn masks any time we go out in public, we make sure to regularly disinfect anything that enters our home along with frequently used surfaces in our home, and we are insuring that contact with the outside world is minimal overall. My dad hasn’t been in very much contact with COVID-19 patients, but once that does start to happen, there could be extra precautions that he would have to take to ensure our safety.”

3) Would you say that you are more informed about everything going on because of your dad and his position?

“I definitely feel like I’m a lot more informed about this whole situation because of my dad. I am able to get a deeper understanding of the real effects of this pandemic and how serious the effects of our actions really are. I definitely appreciate knowing these things through him because it reassures me that quarantine is the right thing to do, and it makes me feel less in the dark about the reality of COVID-19.”

4) Is there anything that your family and you wish was better for your dad working in the hospital environment during this time?

“My family really just hopes that everyone follows quarantine, stays inside, and stays away from people outside of their immediate family at this time. And even with quarantine, once the climax of the pandemic occurs in Grand Rapids, the hospitals will be overrun with patients, which makes people like my father and my family [have] a much higher risk of being infected. So, even just doing your part by staying inside is greatly impacting this situation for the better.”

5) How has quarantine affected you and your family’s daily life?

“Because of quarantine, my family hasn’t met face-to-face with a single person outside of our immediate family for over a month. We do the majority of our shopping online, we completely disinfect everything that comes into our home, and we have become very well-versed in Facetime and Zoom. But, overall, quarantine has given [me and] my family the opportunity to grow closer to each other and to realize what things are most important for us. I also feel like it has helped us realize how much we take normal life for granted.”