I know a lot of people who had Covid in 2020. And a few who died from it. I understood the gravity of the situation back then.
But now I’m confused. I don’t know anyone who has had Covid this year. Yet my county ranks no 1 in the chicago area for cases per 100,000 people. I have to mask up, wait in the parking lot, and get temp taken when I go to the doctor, yet nobody is wearing masks in restaurants. I took a tour bus where masks were required when the bus was moving, but not when the bus stopped. There is no consistency in required/ suggested safety measures.
We were lead to believe that vaccinations would lead to the end of Covid, but now we are told that infections are rising as vaccinations are rising. And 90% of the Newsbreaks I get on my watch suggest that Covid is out of control.
We can look at all of the news and statistics and not arrive at a consensus on the severity of Covid. Im not going to try to figure it out. I’ll just stay as safe while trying to lead a normal life and let the chips fall where they may.
The problem is that the delta variant can easily infect people who are vaccinated and vaccinated people shed the same amount of virus as the unvaccinated, albeit for far fewer days. Vaccination also largely prevents serious illness and death.
One cannot gauge the severity of the pandemic based on the number of people you personally know who have had an infection, any more than one can measure the severity of forest fires based on the ones you’ve personally seen.
I suspect that with home test kits and with more people mildly ill, Covid-19 infections numbers are probably much higher than reported.
Masking up at the doctor’s office makes sense, since sick people go to the doctor, a potential concentration point for Covid-19, and, to prevent medical staff from illness. Avoiding indoor dining is a behavior I choose because going to indoor bars and restaurants unmasked is a high risk behavior during a pandemic, and completely unnecessary to my health and happiness.
If I choose not to wear a seatbelt, it endangers only me, whereas if I choose not to social distance, wear a mask, or get vaccinated, I endanger others as well, especially those I love.
Every day there are decisions to be made that may increase or decrease my risks in life. There are activities that I choose to do that carry some risk of catching Covid and there are activities that I choose not to do, due to that same risk. I started going to the gym in May, but stopped again and returned to doing some exercise at home until this wave passes. I participate in band practice, masked, due to an upcoming outdoor concert, because we cannot rehearse without being there. That is a risk, but my absence affects the band negatively. Outside of that activity, I’m either at home, outside near no one, or masked. I plan to travel across the country to a wedding next month. To mitigate risk, we will wear N95 masks on the plane and are traveling first class. To reduce financial risk, we purchased trip insurance.
This group of daily decisions and contemplating the risks and benefits of each activity is what is commonly known as “worrying”. I don’t “worry” about whether or not to wear a seatbelt or obey traffic laws. That’s already decided.
Please don’t criticize others for “worrying”. We all have to contemplate the potential consequences of our activity choices in the face of others around us who are making poor behavioral choices (not masking, not distancing when possible, refusing to get vaccinated). Right now, these three behaviors are all we can do to mitigate ongoing viral spread.
