Full Transcript
Pete:
The coronavirus – creeping onto the world’s scene only a few short months ago and then exploding into our day-to-day lives. Every day we hear about the impact of corona and COVID-19 on – well, almost everyone. But how is it affecting disabled individuals? Today on Blind Abilities we explore just how blind and visually impaired individuals have experienced and adapted to corona and COVID-19.
In our previous episodes, we have circumnavigated the world, from Australia to Malaysia-
Elise Lonsdale:
My name is Elise Lonsdale, and I’m from Northern Australia.
Chee Chau:
This is Chee Chau, from Malaysia.
Pete:
-England-
Steve Wicketts:
Hi, my name’s Steve, and I’m from England.
Pete:
-Trinidad and Tobago-
Marlon Parieaho:
-Marlon Parieaho-
Pete:
-and Canada-
Nick D’Ambrosio:
-Nick D’Ambrosio-
Pete:
In this, the eighth episode in our series Around the World With COVID-19 From a Blindness Perspective, we come back to the United States of America-
Lori Thompson:
-Lori Thompson-
Brooklyn Rodden Kelly:
-Brooklyn-
Brian Fischler:
-Brian Fischler-
Sherry Molengraft:
-Sherry Molengraft-
Pete:
Our guest today is Sherry Molengraft. Sherry lives in Jacksonville, which is in the northeastern corner of the state of Florida in the United States. She shares with us the impact that coronavirus, and COVID-19, have had on her as a blind individual and a citizen of the state of Florida and the city of Jacksonville. And now please welcome our guest, Sherry Molengraft.
American Newscaster (female)
Jacksonville’s first confirmed coronavirus patient is being treated at Memorial Hospital. We know he’s an 83-year-old man who was transferred there from a local senior living facility.
American Newscaster (female) 2:
Right now, national state and local leaders are all taking steps to reduce the number of coronavirus cases. Currently, there are 14 cases here in Duvall county-
Sherry Molengraft:
Hello, I’m Sherry Molengraft, from Jacksonville, Florida. Here in the northeast corner of Florida, we have not really had that much of an impact of COVID-19 as some places. The incident of people getting the virus and the incident of people dying from it has been low, but it still has affected our lives. I was involved with a lot of advocacy groups, and activities, and outreach, committees and subcommittees, I was teaching iPhone class to new beginners at the library – all of that closed down. And I can recall, at the time, I remember thinking “Oh, I’m so tired, I wish I could just stay home for about a month.” So, be careful what you wish for, because it didn’t quite turn out as great as I thought it would be.
American Newscaster (male)
Florida and Georgia now among the more than 30 states under stay-at-home orders, both came just hours after Mayor Curry issued a similar order for Jacksonville.
Mayor Curry:
Turn on your televisions and look at what’s happening in New York and other parts of the country. We don’t want that to happen in Jacksonville, and the only way we stop it, the only way we mitigate it, the only way we flatten it, is to keep our distance.
Man:
You know, at this point, I think even though there’s a lot of places in Florida that have very low infection rates, it makes sense to make this move now-
Sherry Molengraft:
Also, other activities, like our group gets together in the blindness community, we get to each others’ house, we have parties, we have activities, we have trivia, and bowling – that’s all done. Now, there are some of us that go to each others’ house and just have a get-together and watch movies or talk or whatever, so we’re still doing that, and I still go to the store. The buses have always been running down here, on a limited basis, but they are running. The paratransit is running the same schedule, the same-day service paratransit, so I do ride that more often because even though it costs more it’s not going as many places so I have more money to spend on the same-day service which takes you straight there and back.
Mayor Curry:
People just need to stop the block parties. There shouldn’t be big groups of people congregating. You want to go out in your yard, with your family? Keep your distance from other folks and that’s fine. You want to talk to your neighbor ten feet, six feet across the street? Fine. But let’s just put an end to the big groups congregating.
Sherry Molengraft:
I’ve been going shopping, went to Home Depot, had to buy some appliances, went to the furniture store, things like that, getting out a little bit, but it’s not like before. I really miss the bowling and the trivia and the going out dancing, and hopefully that will open up soon.
Jacksonville has started phase one, which means a lot of things are opening up – reduced capacity, such as the churches, restaurants. I was able to go to the mall on Mother’s Day, so that was enjoyable, me and my daughter and a friend went out, and there were quite a few stores open, and we got to eat at the food court, and enjoyed walking around, and, you know, having a good time getting out. So hopefully more things will be opening up.
The thing that is sad to me is not everyone in some areas in the blindness community have a group of people that they can go out with and do things with. Many of them don’t know other visually impaired people in the area, they may not have paratransit available, and so they’re really just kind of around, you know, neighbors, friends, or family, and that’s great, you know, I mean we love our families, but sometimes it’s nice to just get around other people who really understand what you’re going through. And families, you know, they’re very loving and they do know the things we’re going through because they live with us, but they don’t quite understand exactly what it means or how it feels to live with vision loss, so it’s sometimes just nice to get around other people that you can say, you know, something about this happened or whatever, and they understand, and they’re like “Yeah, yeah, that’s, you know, I’ve felt like that,” and that’s been stopped, because places that people would go like the conventions, the state conventions, the national conventions, the gatherings, sometimes people go just to see other people they haven’t seen for a year, or meet new people from all around that have vision loss, and get together and not only learn things through the workshops and the speakers and whatever but just the fellowship. To have lunch, you know, or dinner or whatever with other people that know what you’re going through.
Hopefully, that will get better, and as far as the way people are feeling down here, it just depends on the person. Some people are being precautious, which they should be and that’s the way I’ve always been, I don’t understand why some of these things- people feel like it’s something new, wash your hands, don’t go around sick people, stay home when you’re sick, watch what you’re touching, things like that, all that everybody should have been doing all along. Too many people – really, it’s just scaring them, you know, it’s like they’re thinking the virus is raining down from the sky, if you go outside you’ll breathe it in, if you go within six foot of something the virus will jump off of them onto that person, and it’s kind of sad how fearful some people are. So that’s kind of the blind community, and everybody else, you know, some of them are more fearful, some are more cautious, and some of them are just- well, I suppose all of us are just tired of this and hope it will be over soon. Then life will hopefully get back to a little bit more normal, but I really don’t know if this will ever be totally normal. I mean, it seems like life is completely changed because, I mean, we’re going to be more into the Zooms, and a lot of activities online, and even blind sites online, and games and things like that, but more and more I think that people, since we’re used to it we’re going to be doing more. And it’s just something that I think people are going to remember, probably, for the rest of their life.
American Newscaster (male) 2:
Florida adds 9488 new coronavirus cases, the third highest daily increase according to numbers released by the health department. It brings the statewide total to 178,594.
American Newscaster (female) 3:
The number of Jacksonville residents diagnosed with COVID-19 has been rising sharply recently, and has been climbing faster than the state average. According to one new study, the latest hotspot in the U.S. for the coronavirus is here, in Jacksonville.
American Newscaster (female) 4:
We do have an announcement this afternoon – the city of Jacksonville, as of 5:00 p.m. today, will be adopting a mandatory mask requirement for public and indoor locations, and also in other situations where individuals cannot be socially distanced. Health care experts advise that masks and cloth face coverings – they help slow the spread from individuals with COVID-19 to vulnerable populations including from those who are asymptomatic, and as we’ve been mentioning to you over the last week and a half, especially a lot of those people who are being tested and testing positive don’t have symptoms. We continue to urge everybody, please practice personal responsibility, do your part to please help stop the spread of this virus.
Pete:
We’d like to thank Sherry for sharing her report on how COVID-19 has affected her in Jacksonville, Florida. It’s interesting how each individual is affected differently, not just dependent on their location around the globe, but in their particular lifestyle as well. Be sure to stay tuned for more episodes in our series, Around the World With COVID-19 From a Blindness Perspective. And from all of us here at Blind Abilities, through these challenging times, to you, your family, and friends, stay well, stay informed, and stay strong. Thank you so much for listening, and have a great day.
[Music] [Transition noise] –
When we share
-What we see
-Through each other’s eyes…
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.
Jeff Thompson:
For more podcasts with the blindness perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com, on Twitter @BlindAbilities. Download our app from the app store Blind Abilities, that’s two words, or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com. Thanks for listening.
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