Social Studies teacher Scott Victorine still believes the U.S. is in a pandemic based on the number of cases and deaths.

“It’s certainly a lot closer to being endemic than it is pandemic, but it’s not quite there yet,” Victorine said. “I think it’s really close. But it’s hard to refute the numbers and it’s hard to refute the data.”

Sophomore Anushka Kumaran echoes this sentiment, worrying about the possibility of the appearance of new mutations. 

“There’s a possibility that [COVID-19] could become a bigger [problem] in the future because of mutations, like what happened in the past,” Kumaran said. “[It’s definitely] good to keep wearing our masks for now, and eventually when there’s no more cases at all, then we can transition.”

Victorine still masks when around others and takes a COVID-19 test before visiting friends and relatives. Whenever other people visit his home, he also requires them to test — not to protect himself from the virus, but to protect his young daughter and the elderly relatives who take care of her.

“A big part of why I still take [COVID-19] seriously is that the people who are helping us out are at youngest 61 years old and at oldest 71,” Victorine said. “So really, we’re looking out for them.”

Victorine notes that he has become less cautious than he was at the start of the pandemic, when he discovered his wife was pregnant. The couple took extremely careful precautions during the pregnancy and immediately after, following a dangerous childbirth where both his wife and child nearly died.

During that time, the couple didn’t leave the house at all, using grocery delivery services or curbside pickups for essential resources. During the few instances they allowed friends or family to visit, visitors had to be in the backyard, separated by the glass door.

Similarly, Kumaran masks due to the risk she poses to her sick grandmother. She is well aware of the potential impacts of COVID-19, as several of her family members in India have passed away from the illness.

But with readily available sanitizing materials and many teachers and students continuing to keep their masks on, Kumaran recognizes the efforts the school community has played a role in slowing the spread of the virus. 

Although Victorine is still cautious about his habits, he understands why many crave normal social interaction, as he had an active lifestyle prior to the pandemic.

“I get that it’s challenging,” Victorine said. “[People] want to go out, they want to do things. I can’t say that I wouldn’t want to be in that position right now if I didn’t have my daughter … Had I not had a kid, I might have seen it differently.”