Tag: lockdown

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Movie

Blursday

Happy Blursday to all my readers! This term entered the lexicon soon after lockdown began. My office was closed in March 2020 and everyone was told to work from home for two weeks till the pandemic had run its course. Well two weeks turned into two months and then two years. Everyday was the same and like many other people who worked remotely, I started to lose track of the days. Was it Thursday or Friday? Sunday or Monday? With no daily commute, every day felt like yesterday, especially under lockdown when we couldn’t go outside except to go shopping or for a solitary walk around the block. Time seemed to pass quickly and the days went by in a blur.

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i swear I just walked out of work Friday šŸ¤Æ #123PandoraME #corporatemillennial #wfh #millennialsoftiktok #sundayscaries #9to5 #corporatejokes #corporateamerica #weekend

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Elly | Corporate Millennial


The Collins Dictionary has “blursday” listed as a new word suggestion: “humorous word for any day of the week that feels not much different from the one before” (Melony).

The Urban Dictionary has a couple of entries for “blursday,” one dating from 2007, so this isn’t a new term:

Defintion #1: “When youā€™ve been sheltering in place for so long because of a global pandemic you have no idea what day it is as they all blur together.

–Blursday! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, blursday, blursday, blursday and blursday” (DarleneOliviaPope).

Defintion #2: “A day you spend hungover, high, or drunk.

-I got so drunk on Friday. I slept in all blursday but Sunday I went to brunch” (J4432).


Blursday appears in a number of online publications. An article published for WebMD on May 7, 2020, entitled “Today is Blursday: How Lockdown Warps Time,” describes the feeling “of your internal clocks melting as your stay-at-home days drone on” and that many people all over the world report that their perception of time has been distorted because of the effects of lockdown. Most feel that time is speeding up but others say their days have slowed down to a crawl (Goodman).

Some people got creative during lockdown and produced journals for sale like this cool notebook from Amazon described as a “Funny notebook for the shelter in place self-quarantine phenomena where the days blur together” (Lit Notebooks).


Blursday is the name of a movie released in June 2021 which was directed by Vincent Soberano, an award winning actor and filmmaker, and tells the true stories of three couples in their apartments during lockdown. The IMDB entry describes the movie as “a unique and profound story about loss, love and pregnancy during confinement.”

An article published for Broadway World on May 29, 2021 quotes Soberano’s reasons for making the movie: “On Blursday, I wanted to produce a time capsule film, detailing a journey through THE FIRST 100 DAYS of the global pandemic. Following the global theme of “we are all in this together”, I created a couple of cinematic rules: To be performed by three couples around the world and to be captured inside their own apartments using computers and phone cameras.” The movie was filmed at each of the couples’ apartments in Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires, “shot via Zoom and in person” (Wild). Watch the trailer below:

image submitted by Piscine26

Social Media Trends as of May 7, 2022

Facebook #blursday: 2,400 people are posting about this
Instagram #blursday: 6,081 posts
TikTok #blursday: 828,000 views
YouTube #blursday: less than 100 videos and channels

Google Trends: blursday first appeared as a blip in February 2009 and didn’t really take off in popularity until March 2020 when lockdown arrived in the United States. The term peaked in April 2020 at the peak of lockdown and then tailed off for a pit, spiking again in November 2020 (as some states reintroduced lockdown after previously lifting them) before returning to where it was in 2009.

blursday search term

Sources:

“Blursday.” IMDB. June 5, 2021. URL: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14016668/.

BLURSDAY a film by Sergio Guerrero-Garzafox (TRAILER v1). YouTube. July 6, 2021. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnXwLdXqxms.

Elly | Corporate Millennial. “When you blink twice and it’s Sunday again.” TikTok. October 3, 2021. URL: https://www.tiktok.com/@1corporatemillennial/video/7014913386840444166?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en.

DarleneOliviaPope and J4432. “Blursday.” The Urban Dictionary. April 24, 2007; September 23, 2020. URL: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blursday.

Goodman, Brenda. “Today is Blursday: How Lockdown Warps Time.” WebMD. May 7, 2020. URL: https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200507/what-day-is-it-this-it-your-brain-on-quarantine.

Lit Notebooks. “Just another Blursday!: Funny shelter in place humor planner, journal and anything book.” Amazon. June 15, 2020. URL: https://www.amazon.com/Just-another-Blursday-shelter-anything/dp/B08BD9CXLH.

Melony. “Blursday.” Collins Dictionary. 20 May 2020. URL: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/submission/22351/Blursday.

Piscine26. ā€œblursday and don’t know what day of the week it is” image. Adobe.com. File no: 408910903.

Wild, Stephi. “LALIFF 2021 Will Screen BLURSDAY, a Film Shot During Lockdown In Three Different Countries.” Broadway World. May 29, 2021. URL: https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/LALIFF-2021-Will-Screen-BLURSDAY-a-Film-Shot-During-Lockdown-In-Three-Different-Countries-20210529.

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Art Virus

Quarantine

Quarantine: “A form of living hell during Covid-19 where we have to stay home and live a very shitty life style and our mental health is affected. We also can’t see our friends or anyone for a long time. We are also out of school and everything.” Also known as a “Cornteen,” the American spelling of quarantine (Urban Dictionary).

We’re in Year 3 of the pandemic and most of us have probably quarantined at least once. It’s a strategy designed to prevent transmission of coronavirus by having those who had close contact with an infected person stay apart from others and having their movements restricted to see if they get sick. Many governments imposed quarantines on people who traveled abroad or even across state lines. Typically the quarantine period was 14 days though this has changed as more people are vaccinated.

The UVA Health website has a glossary of pandemic terms, and for quarantine it says it “is sometimes called ‘isolation.’ Quarantines keep people away from each other to prevent the spread of disease. Stay-at-home orders are a type of quarantine” (Glossary of Terms).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if you were exposed to someone with Covid-19 you should remain home and quarantine for 5 days while wearing a mask around others in the home. You are advised not to travel. After five days you should get tested and watch for symptoms for 10 days from the day you last had contact with someone diagnosed with Covid-19. You do not need to quarantine if you have been fully vaccinated or you previously tested positive for Covid-19 within the last 90 days (Quarantine and Isolation).

Alessi Ayvaz, staff writer for The Californiam recently wrote an article on how the pandemic has changed our lexicon: “If I asked each one of you reading this article the exact difference between quarantine and isolation before and after the pandemic, I am almost certain that you would have had to look up the definitions before (and hopefully not research as much now, whether or not youā€™ve had your own experiences in the La Loma dorms in Foothill). The CDC defines quarantine as ā€œseparatingā€ and ā€œrestrictingā€ people possibly exposed to an infection to see if they do become sick, whereas isolation is separating those who are confirmed to be sick from those who are not.“

So what did people do when stuck in quarantine? LoveThyNerd website published a “Nerdy Quarantine Resource Mega List” for nerds which had information on quarantine info, groups to play games with on Facebook, exercising for nerds, coloring pages and online conventions for those in quarantine.

On March 26, 2020 veteran U.S. Army Ranger Mat Best and country artist Tim Montana wrote the song “Quarantine.” As of May 2, 2022 the song has received over 4.5 million views.

“Quarantine, quarantine, Drinking whiskey like vaccine, Waving at the neighbors, Social distancing.”

image submitted by brovarky

Social Media Trends as of May 1, 2022

Facebook #quarantine: 3.9 million people are posting about this
Instagram #quarantine: 29,963,299 posts
TikTok #quarantine: 78.7 billion views
YouTube #quarantine: 304,000 videos and 138,000 channels

Google Trends: quarantine achieved peak popularity during the week of October 25, 2020.

quarantine search term

Sources

Ayvaz, Alessi. “From herd immunity to ā€˜maskneā€™: How the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our English lexicon.” The Daily Californian. April 14, 2022. URL: https://www.dailycal.org/2022/04/14/from-herd-immunity-to-maskne-how-the-covid-19-pandemic-has-changed-our-english-lexicon/.

Brovarky. “Quarantine.” Adobe.com. File no: 324143620.

Caouette, April-Lyn. “Nerdy Resource Quarantine Mega List.” Love Thy Nerd. April 10, 2020. URL: https://lovethynerd.com/nerdy-quarantine-resource-mega-list/.

“Coronavirus & COVID-19: Glossary of Terms.” University of Virginia. URL: https://uvahealth.com/services/covid19-glossary.

Goth Doll. “Cornteen.” Urban Dictionary. October 19, 2020. URL: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Cornteen.

“Quarantine” a song by Mat Best and Tim Montana. YouTube. March 26, 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3xpRZITi2w.

“Quarantine and Isolation.” Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention. March 30, 2022. URL: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html#quarantine.

Thesavageofall. “Quarantine.” The Urban Dictionary. March 29, 2020. URL: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Quarantine.

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Movie

Songbird

While movie production sets were shut down everywhere during the pandemic, there was one exception for the movie Songbird. It was the first movie to be filmed in Los Angeles during lockdown.

Songbird is a dystopian romantic thriller set in the year 2024 and is based off the Covid-19 pandemic. The world is in its fourth year of lockdown and the virus has mutated into the Covid-23 variant. Those infected have a high rate of mortality but there are some who have natural immunity and are allowed to move about freely without restrictions. The story takes place in Los Angeles and is about Nico, a courier, who is immune to the virus and tries to save his girlfriend Sarah from being forcibly admitted to a quarantine camp known as a Q-Zone by the LA Department of Sanitation. (Wikipedia).

The idea for the movie was conceived in March 2020 just as the pandemic arrived in the United States. Its timing could not have been more controversial and critics accused the producers of being tone death. Production began in July that year and filming wrapped up on August 3, 2020. The film was released on December 11, 2020.

I enjoyed watching the movie and felt the futuristic aspect of it was quite good and realistic but the plot was weak in parts and it felt like there were gaps missing. Overall, it scored 9% on Rotten Tomatoes and the general consensus of the movie was “muddled, tedious, and uninspired, Songbird‘s gimmick never coalesces into a meaningful story about pandemic lockdown.” According to IMDB the film grossed $620,836 worldwide and the movie soundtrack was Leap of Faith written and performed by Lila Sugarman.

An article for The Los Angeles Times published on December 10, 2020 explains why producer Adam Goodman felt it was the right time to make this movie: “Weā€™re living in a scary time, and the reason the movie is sparking conversation is because it resonates with what weā€™re experiencing today. The reason why the movie is called ā€˜Songbirdā€™ is itā€™s about hope. Itā€™s about resilience. Itā€™s about the strength of the human spiritā€ (Rottenberg).

Click the YouTube link below to watch the official Songbird trailer. Enjoy the movie, and remember to “stay safe, sane, and sanitized.”

Social Media Trends as of April 30, 2022

Facebook #songbirdmovie: 1,200 people are posting about this
Instagram #songbirdmovie: 6,471 posts
TikTok #songbirdmovie: 11.4 million views
YouTube #songbirdmovie: less than 100 videos and channels

Google Trends: songbird movie achieved peak popularity during the week of October 25, 2020.

songbird movie search term

Sources

Rottenberg, Joseph. “Coronavirus thriller ā€˜Songbirdā€™ was filmed during the COVID pandemic. How, and why, they did it.” The Los Angeles Times. December 10, 2020. URL: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-12-10/songbird-explained-coronavirus-movie.

“Songbird.” International Movie Database (IMDB). URL: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12592252/.

“Songbird.” Rotton Tomatoes. URL: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/songbird_2020.

“Songbird.” Wikipedia. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songbird_(2020_film)#Release.

ā€œSongbird film poster.” Wikipedia. 30 October 2020. URL: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/90/Songbird_film_poster.png.

“Songbird | Official Trailer.” STX Films. October 29, 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgxXSfto6Vo.



Categories
Pandemic Virus

Quarantini

Two years of lockdown is a long time, especially for those who enjoy life’s little pleasures. Bars and pubs were closed during the pandemic because they were deemed non-essential businesses. So what’s a chap to do with a hankering for an adult beverage?

Enter the Quarantini. The Macmillan dictionary defines this as “a cocktail drunk while socially distancing.” An interesting factoid is that quarantini is not a new term. The above source mentions that “the word itself made its first appearance 15 years ago, in an episode of US medical comedy series Scrubs. Character Danni Sullivan asks ā€˜Quarantinis anyone?ā€™ during lockdown of the intensive care unit because of a potential SARS threat.”

Some of the earliest quarantini recipes were published at the beginning of lockdown. An article named “10 ‘Quarantinis’ to Drink While Social Distancing” appeared in Town and Country magazine on March 23, 2020. Columnist Lauren Hubbard writes: “We may not be able to head to our favorite bars for a drink these days, but social distancing doesn’t mean we have to give up on a top-notch cocktail hour. In the name of making your solo cocktail session special, we’ve rounded up some of the tastiest (and easiest) “quarantinis” to enjoy while standing at least six feet away from other people.

For a health, immunity-boosting cocktail that only takes 5 minutes to prepare, look no further than the Lemon Martini Quarantini. This may be one of the earliest coronvirus pandemic recipes published and appears in a post for the The Novice Chef Blog on March 13, 2020. Author Jessica Segarra touts the exciting benefits of this drink: “The alcohol kills the germs. The local honey and lemon boosts your immunity. And the optional added pack of emergency vitamin c – that can also be used to rim the glass – is just an added bonus!“

On April 17, 2020, YouTube channel Tasty featured a Quarantini Challenge during their virtual happy hour. Contestants had to make their own unique quarantini using 5 ingredients in their fridge and pantry. Ice did not count.

Quarantini Challenge

Social Media Trends as of April 24, 2022

Facebook #quarantini: 21,000 people are posting about this
Instagram #quarantini: 110,061 posts as of April 24, 2022
TikTok #quarantini: 36 million views
YouTube #quarantini: 288 videos; 122 channels

Google Trends: quarantini reached its peak in April 2020.

quarantini search term

Sources:

designergraphic84. ā€œQuarantini bar sign.ā€ Shutterstock.com. Standard License. Royalty-free stock vector ID: 1709264158.

Hubbard, Lauren. ā€œ10 “Quarantinis” to Drink While Social Distancing.ā€ Town and Country Magazine. March 23, 2020. URL: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/drinks/g31900654/quarantini-cocktail-recipes/.

ā€œQuarantiniā€. Macmillan Dictionary. 27 March 2020. URL: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/quarantini.

“Quarantini Challenge 4 Ways ā€¢ Tasty.” YouTube. April 17, 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFAF2RojfQg.

Segarra, Jessica. “Quarantini Cocktail.” The Novice Chef Blog. March 13, 2020. https://thenovicechefblog.com/quarantini/.

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Art Virus

Lockdown

Who of us is not familiar with the term “lockdown,” that isolating experience shared across the globe by billions of people? The term came into common usage early in 2020 as governments around the world instituted tough measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Shutterstock: Fiza Studio

Lockdown became the “2020 Word of the Year” according to Collins Dictionary. An article for BBC News states that “lexicographers registered more than 250,000 usages of “lockdown” during 2020, up from just 4,000 last year.”

In a November 11, 2020 blog post, the Collins Dictionary says: “So what about the word of the year itself? ā€œLockdownā€, with its heavy, clunking syllables and heavier associations, is the condition weā€™ve most dreaded in 2020 ā€“ a state of national stasis, where almost everything that constitutes normal public life is suspended. Under lockdown, our waking hours get a lot smaller. We return to a simpler state ā€“ which some have, in fact appreciated ā€“ but itā€™s a far more restricted one. We see few people, and fewer places. Weā€™re quite literally housebound. Itā€™s not a shock to remember, then, that lockdown was originally a piece of prison vocabulary: itā€™s when inmates are confined to their cells because of some disturbance on the wing. 2020 is year that the meaning of the word shifted irrevocably: in most peopleā€™s minds, lockdown is now a public health measure ā€“ its use having increased exponentially since 2019.“

So, what did people do during lockdown? Some teenagers got together and created an event series called Lockdown “that follows a group of bored quarantined teens working together online to solve a mystery involving one of their neighbors – a mystery which ultimately places them all in danger.“


The author of this blog built a gym in his basement and made a vegetable plot in his garden. Others got creative and started blogging about their experiences during lockdown. A September 20, 2020 article for the New York Times reports on one 86 year old woman who started a blog: “Not long after the coronavirus sent her country into lockdown and brought an abrupt end to life as sheā€™d known it, Hazell Jacobs, 86, awoke in her south London home ready to start something new. She opened a closet and began pulling out a collection of scarves – hundreds of them, gathered over decades of travels around the world. There were countless memories stitched into their hems, each silky expanse a story waiting to be told. Ms. Jacobs sat down, and began to write what soon became Scarf Aid, a blog Ms. Jacobs has faithfully maintained…soon the emails and comments began to come in from fans around the world…Some of her closest friends were struggling under the weight of isolation. ‘Iā€™m used to supporting others,’ she said. ‘So I thought, thatā€™ll be my role, to cheer people up,’ noting that a lot her friends have felt very down” (Purtill).

Social Media Trends as of May 17, 2022

Facebook #lockdown: 4,700,000 million people are posting about this
Instagram #lockdown: 21,126,508 posts
TikTok #lockdown: 44.3 billion views
YouTube #lockdown: 1,100,000 videos and 311,000 channels

Google Trends:Ā Lockdown is not a new word but its meaning changed during the pandemic. It registered as a small blip during the week of March 1, 2020 and within two weeks it reached its peak before tailing off that summer as much of the world was under lockdown and knew what the new definition of the word meant. Even though it was voted “2020 Word of the Year”, it’s certainly not a cause for celebration as it affected everyone, in different ways, from how we worked, attended school and socialized.

lockdown search term

Sources:

“Covid-19: ‘Lockdown’ declared Collins Dictionary word of the year.” BBC News. 10 November 2020. URL: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54878910.

Fisa Studio. ā€œcoronavirus lockdown symbol. Coronavirus pandemic puts countries on lockdown. Stop Covid-19. Isolated Vector Icon.ā€ Shutterstock.com. Standard License. Royalty-free stock vector ID: 1675752562.

“Lockdown.” YouTube Originals For Kids and Family. YouTube. November 19, 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUxtB8Ph9xFROkedqxUc9g_CxrxmRFzuB.

Purtill, Corinne. “In Lockdown, an 86-Year-Old Blogger Finds an Audience and a New Purpose.” The New York Times. September 27, 2020. URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/27/us/lockdown-blogger-finds-an-audience-covid-quarantine-scarf-aid.html.

“Word of the Year 2020 Blog.” Collins Dictionary.com. 10 November 2020. URL: https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/language-lovers/the-year-of-lockdown/.

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Art

Quaranteen

No, its not “quarantine.” Having teens myself, I can vouch that this is a word I’ve used and not one I made up. It appears in the online Macmillan Dictionary as “a teenager who survived Covid-19 or a child who survived and became a teenager in this decade.” The entry has an example of how the term is used: “The quaranteens, Jed and Joe, were finally let out of isolation after the virus outbreak.”

The term has made its way into mainstream media. An article written by Susan Leighton for the website Fandom says “Michael Myers has been trying to stay busy since being sidelined due to COVID-19. Quaranteen, a fun video spoof takes a look at the horror icon behind closed doors.”

Mike Myers in “Quaranteen”

During lockdown, nine teenagers in the United States decided to write a collaborative book entitled “QuaranTEEN” which describes their experiences during lockdown. The book was published on August 17, 2020 and can be ordered from Amazon. The introduction is as follows: “In March 2020, the United States effectively shut down. A new coronavirus, COVID-19, swept the globe and everyone was told to stay at home until further notice. Although the unprecedented quarantine affected everyone, there was one group that seemed particularly impactedā€“teenagers. No longer able to go to school, participate in sports, or visit with their friends, the situation was a significant challenge for them.This collaborative book was created to give teens a positive, proactive project during this time…Each of their stories provides their unique perspective of this moment in time as well as the lessons they have learned along the way.“

In 2020 two teens living in the San Francisco Bay Area created Quaranteen.net, a resource to “provide a creative outlet for children, teenagers, and adults to share their projects, hobbies, and boredom busters, a place for working parents to share tips on childcare and find activities/videos for their kids, and a place to provide guidelines on how to stay safe during this time, as well as links and resources on how you can volunteer or what you can do to help people during the pandemic.” The website has a section for individuals to blog about their experiences. Even though lockdowns have been lifted in the United States, they are still in effect in other countries and you never know when they may be mandated here again, so this is website is a good resource.

Social Media Trends as of May 16, 2022

Facebook #quaranteen: 15,000 people are posting about this
Instagram #quaranteen: 32,837 posts
TikTok #quaranteen: 21.7 million views
YouTube #quaranteen: 393 videos and 155 channels

Google Trends:Ā quaranteenĀ appeared as a small blip on Google Trends during February 2020. This was probably because Covid-19 appeared in China before it spread to the United States and this country was the first to implement mandatory quarantine procedures. When the pandemic reached America the following month, the popularity of the term quickly went vertical, reaching its peak during the week of March 15, 2020, when the U.S. implemented quarantine mandates, stay-at-home orders and virtual school.

quaranteen search term

Sources

Leighton, Susan. “Michael Myers stars in Quaranteen: The night he stayed home.” Fansided. Minute Media. 2021. URL: https://1428elm.com/2020/07/06/michael-myers-quaranteen-stayed-home/.

Myers, Mike. “Quaranteen.” YouTube. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6zzrfPd7Z8.

“Quaranteen.” MacMillan Dictionary. Submitted by Elinor. April 6, 2020. URL: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/quaranteen.

“QuaranTEEN: Our New Normal: Nine Teenagers Share Their Experience of a Worldwide Pandemic.” Authors: Kelli O’Brien Corasanti, Brady Durkin, Eva Fahrenkrog, Brook Holman, Lauren Kern, Chase Lormand, Chris Selvarajah, Jeremy Selvarajah, Helen Treacy, Mia Conca. Independently published (August 17, 2020). URL: https://www.amazon.com/QuaranTEEN-Teenagers-Experience-Worldwide-Pandemic/dp/B08FSMPK21.

“QuaranTEEN.” 2020. URL: https://www.qteen.net/.

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Relationships

Covid divorce

Many people have gone through the pain of divorce. There are often feelings of rejection and bereavement especially if the divorce ended acrimoniously. The stresses of divorce are more complicated in the pandemic era. Periods of lockdown and stay-at-home orders exacerbated existing marital problems (or created new ones) especially when both spouses are constantly in close proximity to each other, either because they work remotely or lost their job due to the pandemic.

In the United Kingdom, “divorce enquiries [rose] by 122% from July to October 2020 compared to the same period in 2019” (Hatley). Celebrities are not immune from the effects of divorce. On March 4, 2022 the celebrity website TMZ reported that Kanye West penned a poem about the end of his marriage to Kim Kardashian, in which he wrote: “Divorce feels like full blown Covid ā€¦ like your doctor don’t know s**t ā€¦ like your walking on glass ā€¦ like you’re running through a glass wall ā€¦ like you’re being bullied in a class hall.”

Most courts were closed to in-person hearings so legal proceedings had to take place virtually. The author of this blog went through a divorce in 2021. It was surreal to be sitting at home using Zoom to talk to two mediators (both lovely women in their 60s) and my soon-to-be ex spouse (who had logged in from work) about how to end our marriage and divide our assets. Meetings with my lawyer were conducted over Zoom. My divorce hearing was conducted over Zoom which was weird. On my laptop screen was the judge, my lawyer, and my spouse (who had logged in from work). Her WiFi connection kept cutting out so the judge had to keep repeating his questions. Finally, it was all over and I was newly divorced. Because of the pandemic, the whole “going to court” thing was completely bypassed. The situation where everything was done virtually was bizarre and felt like a Black Mirror episode. One minute you’re married, and the next you’re not.

In the pandemic era, there are complicated issues involving divorce and child custody. Some of them involve disputes about whether to get the kids vaccinated where one parent wants this and the other disagrees. Child swap, especially across state lines where there are travel restrictions, can create contention. Custody issues are more complex if one parent has Covid-19 and the other doesn’t, or a child has Covid-19 but their siblings test negative for Covid. Who gets the kids during quarantine? One legal blog post commented that “parents who were otherwise exercising regular parenting time with their children may now be forced to exercise virtual parenting time only during a period of self-quarantine or even longer if it is deemed that the children are at risk” (Danaher). Finally, many people who lost their jobs during the pandemic fell behind with alimony and child support payments leaving the other parent struggling to provide for their child’s basic needs.

For anyone experiencing a Covid divorce or separation visit DivorceMag.com and check out their resources page. They offer good advice for individuals and families going through this crisis such as child custody, co-parenting and finances.

Adobe Stock image supplied by Thiago Santos

Social Media Trends as of May 2, 2022

Facebook #coviddivorce: people are posting about this
Instagram #coviddivorce: 607 posts
TikTok #coviddivorce: 1.2 million views
YouTube #coviddivorce: less than 100 videos and channels

Google Trends: covid divorce reached its peak during the week of March 29, 2020 which just so happened to coincide with lockdown and stay-at-home orders.

Covid divorce search term

Sources:

“COVID-19 and Divorce Resource Page.” DivorceMag.com. URL: https://www.divorcemag.com/covid-19-and-divorce-resource-page.

Danaher, Scott. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Family Law in New Jersey.” Snydersarno.com. May 29, 2020. URL: https://www.snydersarno.com/blog/2020/05/29/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-205449.

“Divorce Sucks ā€¦ Here’s a Poem to Prove it!!!” TMZ. March 4, 2022. URL: https://www.tmz.com/2022/03/04/kanye-west-divorce-poem-kim-kardashian-pete-davidson/.

Hatley, Emma. “Emma Hatley appears on Sky News to explain why divorce rates have increased during the pandemic.” StewartsLaw.com. 30 November 2020. URL: https://www.stewartslaw.com/news/emma-hatley-appears-on-sky-news-to-explain-why-divorce-rates-have-increased-during-pandemic/.

Santos, Thiago. “Covid Divorce” image. Adobe. File 371877325.