Bay Area residents reflect on 1 year since 1st stay-at-home order

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Tuesday, March 16th will mark one year since the first Bay Area counties implemented a stay-at-home order as the COVID-19 pandemic began ramping up. As we near that milestone, ABC7 News spoke to people as they reflected on the various ways this year has impacted them.

With all the changes to our daily lives, it's been easy to lose perspective, but not for all.

"It's been a trying year just trying to get through it," said San Francisco resident Ryan Bir. "You know, I've lost a couple people here recently."

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Nurses on the front lines like Sarah and Nancy Huggett haven't had the chance to forget either.

"It affects it a lot because we can't hug our patients, we can't touch them," said hospice nurse Nancy Hugget.

Another constant theme facing healthcare workers is confusion and anxiety.

"It's stressful because I think in the beginning of it especially, nobody really knew anything," Sarah Hugget said. "So people were looking to us as nurses to answer their questions and we didn't really know either."

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For the young and healthy, there's been other forms of loss.

"I've been unemployed for the full year, which in a way, is a blessing and a curse," San Francisco resident Molly said.

Though, even without a job, Molly and her partner Greg had some luck.

"Funny enough because of Covid, everyone's been moving out," Greg said. "We were able to finally move up to the city."

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For Pooja Kondabolu and her 20-month-old son, there's also been more time for family.

"I come back from maternity leave and the pandemic hit I think 5 weeks into me coming back to work, Kondabolu said. "Usually my husband is on a plane every other month, so just to have that unfettered time has been really really nice."

Jessica Lan and Ryan Ortiz have spent pretty much every day together working from home, but they didn't get sick of each other.

"We just got married yesterday, I got the ring," Ortiz said. "Had a COVID-safe wedding we are ready to just move forward with our lives and move on in a safe way for sure."

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