By Ainsley Jay
Today, I am interviewing Ayesha Singla, currently attending Parkway West middle, a school in Missouri. She is in 7th grade the same as me. The covid conditions in Missouri are unsafe with Omicron spreading and people thinking the virus to be “fake”.
According to Ayesha, numerous people at her school have tested positive for the coronavirus. Luckily, she has not had any symptoms or tested positive despite living in high-risk Missouri.
I have known Ayesha since I was six years old in Missouri and befriended her. We haven’t seen each other for 2 years in person due to the coronavirus and me living in Massachusetts.
The interview began over FaceTime.
Ainsley: How many people have you known that have gotten COVID-19 recently?
Ayesha: Over ten people have gotten COVID-19, and so have their siblings. Half of them got them from parties (typically on New Year’s or Christmas) and the other half got them from a school exposure. Three of my teachers have gotten COVID-19. Also, a 6th grader and an 8th grader that I am friends with mentioned that a lot of people were out due to COVID-19 after break. The same thing happened in my own grade.
Ainsley: Do you have pool testing at your school? Here in Wayland, we have it. Before break more of the pools were negative. After the break, there have been more positive pools throughout the school district.
Ayesha: No, we do not. Though, I doubt any kids would do pool testing. I know my parents would sign me up.
Ainsley: What is people’s opinion on masks over there?
Ayesha: A majority of people are going to stop wearing masks when the mask mandate begins, to prevent it from happening – which will happen sometime in February. A large number of kids showed up at school to protest the mask mandate. A person posted on Snapchat telling people to come to school maskless to protest the mandate. When the kids showed up maskless the staff told them to put on a mask or they would have to call home and leave the school. Then, they put on a mask.
Ainsley: That’s good to know…Have people regularly been going to social gatherings? Do you know much about how an outbreak of COVID-19 happened?
Ayesha: Yes, some people post about them going to parties on social media. All of the photos are of gatherings ranging from seven to ten people and after they all get COVID-19.
Ainsley: Do you know people who are unvaccinated and if so, why?
Ayesha: In science, we took a vote. About half were vaccinated and the other half were unvaccinated. Only a quarter of the vaccinated people were willing to get the booster because the rest don’t trust the vaccine and their parents don’t trust it anymore. Some kids won’t get it because their parents don’t believe in the vaccine or they are too afraid.
Ainsley: What have people in your school been saying about COVID-19?
Ayesha: Kids don’t really care, they say its stupid, and they want the corona virus to be over.
Thank you so much Ayesha for allowing me to interview you! This was a great opportunity to see how COVID-19 is treated differently in other parts of the country.
