Donavon Cheff, an airport maintenance coordinator, disinfects seats within the terminal after passengers boarded a flight at the Provo Airport on Thursday, April 16, 2020. According to a recent Bloomberg online report, two-thirds of the world’s jets are not currently in use. Many airlines are flying with only a handful of customers on board and, in some cases, no passengers. Allegiant Air, which services the Provo airport, has gone from 19 flights a week to one or two depending on the week, according to Steve Gleason, the airport’s manager.
The coronavirus craziness that seeped into Utah in March became the "new normal" in April – Whatever "normal" is, at this point.
However, I don't things will ever fully go back to "normal". Despite the world getting a bit more in control of COVID-19 lately, I believe the varying hygienic precautions people and businesses have implemented will linger for quite some time, and make everyone reevaluate hygiene in a personal and public sense going forward. Which, is a good thing – It's just unfortunate that it took a global pandemic and over 200,000 deaths worldwide to get everyone to be a little more proactive about hygiene.
April was a month of self-reliance, for me. I felt more like an editor than ever this past month. I often touched base with nearly every reporter we have on staff most every day to cultivate photo opportunities for stories while working with our editors to ensure that my photos were used efficiently across the days we publish. The coronavirus pandemic (and our company's quota of 2-4 stories a day, every day for writers) has severely limited the time and ability of our reporters to cultivate photo opportunities, so I've had to lead the charge in not only creating my own photo assignments, but obviously photographing them as well. Practically every work day in April for me began with reaching out to several writers about several stories, in the hopes that we could set something up for the next day's front page, as most photo opportunities or options never got off the ground without my direction. I'd be lying if I said being a truly full-time photo editor and full-time photographer wasn't spreading me crazy thin and driving me a bit nuts, but the challenges of working at a newspaper grow harder every single month, and I do enjoy rising to that challenge.
April was also a month of big changes at the newspaper (yet again). We cut our Sunday edition (combining our Saturday and Sunday newspapers as the new "Weekend Edition", so we publish just six days a week now). A paywall was implemented on our website, our sports editor (who has worked at the Daily Herald for quite some time) was furloughed indefinitely, and two of our three open positions were frozen indefinitely due to the coronavirus (the third position was filled by our features editor, who now effectively works two full-time jobs). Three positions may not sound like a lot, but when there's only nine full-time people at the Daily Herald every day (myself included), it severely limits the content we can produce. However, these issues are not exclusive to the Daily Herald, but have long been a nationwide trend, a trend that has been exponentially exacerbated by COVID-19.
For now, I am grateful to simply have food in my fridge, a roof over my head and a job (and one I love, at that). I am truly one of the lucky ones to still be standing, and I hope to stay standing for some time to come.
Jonathan Nellemann and Amanda Weigle kiss during their digital marriage-license ceremony officiated by the Utah County Clerk and Auditor, Amelia Powers Gardner, on Friday, April 17, 2020, at the couple’s home in Park City. Utah County is operating the only online marriage license portal in the world, allowing couples to get hitched via video conferencing in light on the coronavirus pandemic.
Caution tape restricts access to North Park on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, in Spanish Fork. With new orders, directives and announcements related to the COVID-19 pandemic coming down from the state regularly, Spanish Fork city officials want to keep residents up to speed and help them understand how the pandemic will impact the city.
Coronavirus statistics from the Utah Department of Health’s website are displayed at the Utah County Health Department’s COVID-19 call center Tuesday, April 14, 2020, in Provo. The call center estimates they processes 25 to 100 calls every day.
Bus technician Don Harman talks with a co-worker after tightening components on a school bus during a tune-up at the Alpine School District East Transportation Bus Garage on Thursday, April 2, 2020, in American Fork. The more than 400 buses operated by Alpine School District are parked in two garages in Utah County as schools around the state are closed due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak. While the buses aren’t being used, they are all being checked out by technicians to ensure they’re all operating optimally.
Heather Robison helps guide her son, Quinton, 5, through a lesson in a workbook from The Good and the Beautiful at the Robison family’s home Tuesday, April 14, 2020, in Saratoga Springs. The Good and the Beautiful, a Lehi-based home schooling business, has helped students to continue learning as schools across the nation closed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Eddy Leon wipes excess lubricant off a bicycle’s chain at Eddy’s Bicycle Barn on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Cedar Hills. “I want people to be on bicycles,” said Leon, owner of Eddy’s Bicycle Barn. “So, I will work on any type of bike; anything that has a chain and wheels, I will work on it.” To see more photos and read the story from this Monday Close-Up, which published early in April, click here: provodh.com/8uxv6
Antonio Smith, 6, smiles with his parents, Farahnaz and Shawn, as they pose together for a portrait Monday, April 13, 2020, in a rental home in Provo. The Smiths came from San Fernando, Trinidad, after winning plane tickets and highly-discounted therapy from the Now I Can Foundation to treat their son, Antonio. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the family is now stuck in the United States until travel restrictions are lifted.
Passengers depart an Allegiant Air flight at the Provo Airport on Thursday, April 16, 2020.
Health care worker Janelle Hardy goes over testing instructions with Jenny Hubbart, of Farr West, at a COVID-19 testing site erected outside the Provo Towne Centre mall Friday, April 3, 2020. According to a press release published Thursday by the Silicone Slopes Serves initiative, which is managing a private-public sponsorship to set up new testing facilities, the initiative will double the state’s daily testing capacity from 3,000 to over 6,000 tests a day. For more information on filling out an assessment, scheduling an appointment, finding testing sites or other information concerning COVID-19, visit: testutah.com.
A shopper walks into Walmart on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, in Orem.
McKell Denkers, left, and Ryan Alysse pose for a portrait outside their apartment Friday, April 10, 2020, in Orem. Denkers worked with concrete at a construction company and Alysse worked as a dishwasher for Golden Corral, and both were laid off due to COVID-19.
A photo illustration depicts a threat to online voting: hackers. Barbara Simons, an AAAS fellow and board chair of Verified Voting, said internet voting, which includes mobile and blockchain voting, “can be attacked by anyone from anywhere” and that it can take months to determine whether a system has been hacked.
Provo boys soccer head coach Cesar Cardoso poses for a portrait Wednesday, April 22, 2020, at Provo High School. After 32 years of coaching the boys soccer team at Provo High School, Cardoso is retiring.
Ezra Callis, 9, plays with one of the farm’s goats as he climbs a tree at Hedgerow Hill Farm on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, in the Spanish Fork River Bottoms.
Volunteers Jamie and Jeff Dunbabin, both of Highland, load groceries into a family’s vehicle at the Tabitha's Way North County Food Pantry on Friday, April 17, 2020, in American Fork. Major changes have been put into place at Tabitha’s Way food pantries in American Fork and Spanish Fork in order to continue helping those in need in ways that protect against the spread of COVID-19. The food bank is now a drive-thru service, where people drive up and pick up bags and boxes of food that are loaded into their cars by volunteers.
Jenna Parker, owner of Macs a la Mode, poses for a portrait at her business in Orem on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Parker is hoping to hold a senior prom for Utah Valley high school seniors, whenever COVID-19 concerns subside enough to allow for the event to take place safely.
Tennyson Whiting, of Payson, and Kyra Poduska, of South Jordan, joke with one another in the bed of Poduska’s pickup truck atop the Flight Park State Recreation Area in Draper while Lake Mountain and Lehi are seen in the background on Monday, April 6, 2020. The two were going to paint in the bed of the pickup, but high winds thwarted their plans.
Graduating seniors Haylee MacGillveray, center, and Mayah Johnson receive graduation caps, gowns and yard signs from principal Steve Stewart at Pleasant Grove High School on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. Seniors were able to pick up pre-ordered caps and gowns Wednesday, along with honor cords and graduation signs to display in their front yards. A graduation walk will take place the final four days of school (May 21, 22, 26 and 27) for graduates and their immediate family, observing proper social distancing guidelines.
Substitute teacher Scott Bronson poses for a portrait beside his community library on the porch of his Provo home Friday, April 10, 2020. Bronson has been subbing in K-12 classrooms for the past seven years, and has been hired significantly less with statewide school closures in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Stephen Hansen, of Cedar Hills, hands a customer his ice cream at the drive-thru of the new, second location of Brooker's Founding Flavors Ice Cream in Provo on Friday, April 24, 2020.
Bicyclists riding along the Murdock Canal Trail check out the progress of the Ranson family, from left, Jeff, Dustin, 13, Tyler, 16, Natalie, and Porter, 10, as they reproduce an inspirational message out of chalk at their home in Pleasant Grove on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. The message read, “Every day may not be good, but there is good in every day.” The family changes the message every four days or so as a way to uplift those that use the popular trail amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Alfredo Cornell, of Draper, secures his sailboat to a dock at the Lindon Marina on Thursday, April 9, 2020.