Junior Nissi Gotay works at Bridgewater Retirement home as a Certified Nurse Assistant, and despite the coronavirus pandemic, she is still regularly working. Working now is much different than working there regularly due to the amount of precautions they have to take in order to keep the residents healthy. 

“Right now, working has been very different, mainly because of the protection we have to wear. Every time we go into work, we have to change into clothes they have there for us and then change back when we are going home. We are required to wear masks at all times and help residents keep a distance at all times,” Gotay said. 

Gotay has to take extra precautions when she arrives and leaves work. 

“We always wash our hands between residents [and] make sure we wear gloves, and I always shower as soon as I get home [while] keeping a distance from my family,” Gotay said. 

Gotay loves to work and help the residents, but she is still concerned that her health might be at risk. 

“I love being able to work right now, so I try to work as much as I am allowed to, [but] I am concerned that I might get sick and won’t be able to continue helping at the retirement community,” Gotay said. 

Gotay has to make sure she socially distances from the residents as much as possible, as well. 

“We are practicing social distancing, and we are also practicing isolation as best as we can while also keeping the residents happy,” Gotay said. 

Keeping her family safe is also a main priority. Gotay has to make sure she doesn’t expose her family to anything she may have come in contact with at work. 

“My family has been taking a lot of vitamins and exercising so they can stay healthy, and I try to isolate myself from them as much as I can,” Gotay said. 

Staying inside and quarantining is very important according to Gotay, but she realizes you can’t control other people’s decisions to go out. 

“At first it would upset me a lot [that people were still going out] because I knew that it would only make the situation worse. Now, I realize that everyone has the right to make their decision about where they want to go and what they want to do, and it’s at their own risk even though it does impact a lot more people than they think it does,” Gotay said. 

Gotay’s advice is to make sure you think about others and the bigger picture before going out. 

“Staying home is not only important to protect yourself, your family and the ones you love. It is also very important for our community and our economy overall. Please think about all those things and people before you make the decision to go out,” Gotay said.