The pandemic impacted my life in different ways, making me more isolated and keeping me from seeing long-time friends. It also introduced remote learning, resulting in a decrease in the quality of education in Brazil. It has been a year since the start of the pandemic and the quarantine. Even if I went through difficult times, I am grateful that no one in my family contracted COVID-19, and my grandparents have already been vaccinated. I hope that by August 2021 everyone in my family will be able to get vaccinated.
In Brazil, we surpassed 11 million COVID-19 cases. By the third day of the pandemic, Brazil had more than 2,000 registered deaths resulting from the virus. The number of individuals who succumbed to the virus rose by 275,105. A few days later, it went to 272,889. We still have 2,966 deaths being investigated by health officials, since in many cases the diagnosis is only possible after the patient’s passing. While vaccination is still an issue, it’s important to work on flattening the curve by frequently washing hands with soap or hand sanitizer, avoiding touching our faces, going out only when necessary and using masks. We need to keep in mind that masks only aren’t effective if we don’t observe social distance and hand cleaning.
— Nayara C. M. Celere, 18
Parana, Brazil
