Students have mixed feelings about the reinforced restrictions that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee made in response to rising COVID-19 cases.
Indoor social gatherings have been greatly affected, with some activities reducing gathering sizes to 25 percent of its indoor occupancy limits, with some activities barred altogether. Restrictions include bans on indoor dining at restaurants, limited in-store retail capacity, gyms and other facilities closing altogether. These will remain in effect until Dec. 14 of this year.
Self-quarantine is also required before any social gathering people may have.
Some students have said that they are not happy about prolonged quarantine with even more limitations.
“I’m not looking forward to the next couple weeks or more,” said Amy Mclaughlin, a Highline student. “I want to go out and do stuff. I don’t want to stay in my home for even longer now.”
“Why can’t our government regulate things like COVID-19?” said another Highline student. “If we actually did a good job, there would be no need for quarantine, and I could actually go out and do stuff.”
Other students, however, do not seem to care as much, as these restrictions do not seem to greatly impact their daily lives.
“It’s not like the restrictions are going to affect me that much,” said Timothy Park. “Other than work, there won’t be that many changes with my daily routine.”
One thing that students agree on is that these restrictions appear to be necessary. They say that these restrictions will be for the greater good, keeping people safe at the expense of their leisure.
“I’d rather quarantine for a couple more weeks than put my family and friends in danger,” said Timonthy Park.
“Of course the restrictions are necessary,” said another Highline student. “We don’t want everybody to get COVID-19, so putting in these restrictions to hopefully lower cases will definitely be better for the whole of Washington.”
“I think it is necessary so we can prevent the rise of COVID”, said Maryjoy Dela Cruz. “Some people may already have health issues that will have a higher risk for COVID and it maybe be harder for them to overcome it
Dela Cruz also said that if everyone properly followed the guidelines that were put into place earlier this year than maybe the state would not be going through this second lockdown.
Others are being affected, however.
“I don’t like the COVID testrictions the governor put into to place again,” said Nick Singh.
Singh’s escape from this crazy year was going to the gym, which is now closed due to the guidelines. When the first lockdown happened for many months, he says he just did not feel good without the gym and lost all the progress he had been making.
“I think some restaurants and movie theaters should be open as well but with some distancing,” Singh said.