In a town such as Kaysville, Utah with a population of 31,500, Covid has affected every aspect of daily life. It has been almost a year since the world went into lockdown. March 13, 2020 was the last day of freedom for most places, but not for Sugar City, Idaho.

Sugar City has a population of 1,567, just over 20 times less than that of Kaysville. This makes it so their protocols when it comes to Covid are very different than those of Kaysville, or really any big city.

With a population of just over 1,500 people, the high school in Sugar City has a small student population of around 550 people. In contrast to Davis High with a student population of just over 2,000.

Social life at Sugar Salem High is drastically different than the current status of social life at Davis. Not only do they not have to wear masks at school, they also don’t have to wear masks at sporting events or dances. Crew Clark, a senior at Sugar Salem says,

“Nobody has to wear masks, and maybe two kids out of like 550 choose to wear them. We don’t have to wear masks at school sporting events and nobody does.” – Crew Clark

Although masks are not required at Sugar Salem, it is encouraged to social distance at sporting events. Karis Clark, a junior at Sugar Salem talks about the freedom they have at sporting events,

“At school sporting events we are not required to wear a mask! It is encouraged to social distance but masks are not required and it’s optional if you want to wear one.” – Karis Clark

Sports, school, social life, nearly everything has stayed the same. Nobody has to test negative to play sports, or to stay at school. In contrast to Davis High, where student athletes have to test every two weeks in order to continue their sport.

“It doesn’t affect my life at all really, besides my grandpa getting sick a couple months ago. And it also bugs me when people come from out of state with their masks, face shields and other garbage, then try and tell us how we should wear them too.” Comments Crew Clark.

Karis Clark also talks about how Covid has affected her life,

“I feel grateful that I live in a community where Covid hasn’t changed my life a ton. I feel for the people who lose loved ones to it, and I feel like those who are at risk to it do take the necessary precautions here. I also believe that the rest of us can’t quit living our lives due to those at risk. I think no matter what, life must go on. I had a grandpa go through Covid and he almost lost his life to it. This changed my perspective a lot because before I experienced this, I thought it was over hyped and it wasn’t “that bad”. If you are at risk, take precautions. That’s how I feel, and I’m grateful that those in my community feel the same!” – Karis Clark

The people in Sugar City are lucky that they get to have their lives be the same. Sadly, Kaysville and other areas around the world are still living in a global pandemic.