ABOVE: LILA WESTREICH
Amonth ago, my life as a graduate student at the University of Washington was going well. I was scheduled to give five public talks on my research during the first week of March, my laboratory experiments were proceeding apace, and I was prepping for fieldwork set to start in a few weeks. Then everything changed.
On March 4th, public health officials in King County, WA, responding to the growing outbreak and increasing number of cases of COVID-19 in the state, announced during a press conference that Seattle residents should stay home. The King County Department of Public Health officials also advised the cancellation of any group event involving more than 10 people. My scheduled presentations were canceled almost immediately. The University of Washington (UW) quickly shifted to online classes. Toilet paper and hand sanitizer disappeared from grocery shelves across the city. Graduate students were left stranded.
As ...
