A couple out for walk wear protective masks on a warm afternoon in Pittsburgh, Sunday, April 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
VENANGO CO., Pa. (EYT) — As life continues to change during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, people are adjusting in different ways — from money struggles to not being able to visit elderly parents to accepting the uncertainty of the future.
“I have been living day-to-day,” Dan King told exploreVenango.com last week. “I have been in self-quarantine since I got home from gallbladder removal surgery a couple of weeks ago. I am one of the people who are in their 60s who has a pre-existing condition.”
Life is hard right now, according to Megan Walk.
“We have no money to support ourselves, and grocery stores are empty of most necessities,” Walk said. “It’s like a daily fight when we go to the store because someone always had the last package of what we need in their cart. Rent and bills still have to be paid, and most everyone is laid off. Unemployment says there is no waiting week, but it still takes a week to accept your claim. We, the people, need help at this time. But all we’re getting is denial.”
According to Carol Cyphert, most of the things in her life haven’t changed, but there are some exceptions.
“I’m not able to visit mom in the nursing home,” Cyphert said. “And, I don’t eat out as much. I sure wish we had more sunshine so I could work out, though.”
The biggest change for Pamela McBride has been not being able to visit her mother in the nursing home and/or hospital.
“My mother is 83 and in a nursing home,” McBridge said. “I would visit at least six nights a week. They stopped visits a couple of weeks ago. Now, she has been taken to the hospital with CHF, and they stopped visits there. I haven’t been able to see or hug her. My heart is breaking that she has to go through this alone. I should be with her.”