Marelis Ayarza

When Marelis Ayarza, 15, first realized there was a pandemic happening, she didn’t take it seriously. She then realized how fast the cases were growing and how deadly the virus was. Ever since, Ayarza tries to protect herself from the virus as much as possible, especially her family. 

Her family doesn’t go out unless it’s necessary, such as groceries or work. They always carry masks and hand sanitizers with them.

Whenever she goes out she always wears a mask. Ayarza cares about her own safety and everyone else’s. Her grandmother and brother have pre-existing conditions like diabetes and asthma and because of that, she tries to protect her and her family.

“In Florida whenever you want to go into stores, you’re only allowed in when you have a mask and I’m not bothered by it,” said Ayarza, “but wearing these masks for 20 minutes, it starts to get difficult to breathe in.” 

She doesn’t have any favorite masks since all she uses is the surgical ones. Ayarza has gotten less close to people ever since quarantine started. She stopped seeing people unless it was family.

“I honestly think we’re going to keep wearing these masks until the new year starts,” she said, “even though it’s hard to communicate in these and hard to breathe in, hopefully, it stops very soon.”