Sask. nanny in New York City reflects on life in a pandemic

After finishing her degree, Kendall Nestor packed up to make the exciting move from Rouleau, Saskatchewan to New York City in January to work as a nanny in Manhattan.

Instead of fulfilling a lifelong dream of excitement exploring the big city, Nestor is now blogging to share her view of daily life in a city hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Joining Gormley for a phone interview on Monday, she explained how everything changed almost overnight, in hindsight she thinks it was probably too late.

“It was mid-March and I remember they had announced everything was going to close on the Tuesday, and the weekend before everybody was at the bars, the restaurants and then all of a sudden nobody was anywhere,” Nestor said.

“It was night and day. Before I would walk down the street and I would see more people than I would see all day at home and now I’ll go for a walk and see maybe 10 people.”

With such a large population, Nestor said it’s difficult for authorities to take control and keep so many people inside to maintain social distance. In the early days she noticed more of a casual attitude toward the risk of COVID-19. New Yorkers all think they are tough and expected to just survive and get through whatever was coming their way like they have through past disasters.

As the death toll skyrockets with hospitals overwhelmed by patients, Nestor said attitudes are beginning to change as reality sets in. Living with the family in Manhattan, there is a hospital nearby where the harsh reality is within her view.

“They have now moved in two refrigeration trailers which is essentially a morgue right across the street from us. So seeing stuff like that I think, has made this a lot more real for people,” Nestor said.

“Before it had actually started affecting people that anyone knew, it was just this abstract thing that nobody thought was going to get them, but when you see things like (the makeshift morgues) it’s like, ‘OK, this is real.'”

Despite the gruesome reminder of how bad the pandemic really is in NYC, Nestor is trying to maintain a positive attitude keeping the 4-year-old girl in her care feeling happy and safe. They are still able to go outside to get fresh air once every three or four days, but she is careful to keep their walks just around the block, noting Central Park is nearby but still surprisingly busy.

At first Nestor considered flying home to Saskatchewan, but she wanted to avoid exposure travelling through airports so she decided to stay hunkered down with the family she works for and the four-year-old girl she takes care of, saying she loves being with them. She commented that being quarantined with a preschooler is actually a great way to find the happiness and fun still left in the world.

For Nestor, the key to getting through this situation is to stay informed but while also pretending things are normal as best you can. Someday in the future, she plans to tell the story of this experience to her own kids if they ever complain.