TOKYO/KYOTO -- It was mid-March, just as the world was beginning to witness the rapid spread of the deadly coronavirus. The World Health Organization had just declared a pandemic. In an apartment near Indiana State University, 23-year-old Emma Barnard had decided to self-isolate, struggling with allergy symptoms and chest pains.
She found herself straining to breathe, preventing her from doing any physical activity. "I was in bed all day with nothing to do," the student said. Housebound, her thoughts churned: Did she have the disease? Would the pandemic soon run its course?