Your Voice on COVID-19: Sumter family finds time together amid work uncertainty

We've been asking our Sumter Item community to share their stories surrounding COVID-19 and the pandemic's impact on you, your family and friends, work, etc. We want to tell the stories of the people in our community, putting names and people to statistics and trend articles.

To share your story and read other submissions, go to https://bit.ly/3e3kcvf or email editor@theitem.com if you want us to send you a questionnaire. You can also call (803) 774-1235 and leave a voicemail either detailing your story or a callback number.

Editor's note: While we read through and edit these reader submissions to ensure they adhere to our publishing policy, we cannot fact-check all of these personal experiences. The Sumter Item does not endorse opinions that may appear in Your Voice.

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What county do you live in? Sumter

How old are you? 32

Are you working from home, self-isolating or quarantining? What changes have you made? How are you adjusting? My family and I own a home in Sumter, but my husband works in China. Last summer, my 3-year-old daughter and I moved to China. We came home in January as a family for a two-week visit that was already planned. We left just as the virus started to spread in China. A week later, the U.S. closed their borders to China. We have been here since. My husband still has his job but is working from home on China's time. He has tried to return, but then China has closed their borders. He is in the process of getting a new visa and could return in the next month. My daughter and I have decided to stay in the U.S. due to all of the uncertainty of the virus.

Are you a parent? Tell us about the changes you and your family have made. Yes. At the beginning of quarantine in the U.S., my daughter and I did not leave the house except for outside play in our yard or neighborhood walks. My husband did all of the shopping. We have started going shopping more with our daughter and even eating at restaurants.

What's something positive you've taken from this situation? A silver lining? All of the family time! My husband usually works long hours and misses a lot of the little things like bed times or breakfast and cartoons. We have had a lot of time together and completed many home projects together.