The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 142 (642)

I may actually be more afraid now than I was during the spring of 2020 as the pandemic was first spreading. Vaccinated or not was not an issue then, and masks seemed commonplace. Now I'm reading that with Omicron displacing Delta as the variant supreme we could see over a million new cases per day just in the US. At least that's what some expect based on how things have progressed in Southern Africa, Britain, Denmark, and Norway among others. When I was a child, it was hard to picture one million. I knew that New York City was the biggest city, people-wise, in the US, and the population then was seven million. If a million people are getting sick each and every day, how can anyone ignore the pandemic?

As of 8:00 this morning, the case count in the US was 50,513,437, with 138,883 of those being reported yesterday. There had been 803,652 deaths, 1,141 from yesterday. If we continue averaging 1,141 deaths each day, we will hit one million deaths in early June. One million people dying is even harder to imagine than one million people falling ill. Is it any wonder that mental health professionals say that they can't keep up with the demand for their services.

According to the CDC, only a little more than half of nursing home residents have gotten boosters. I do not know how they are defining "nursing home." My mom is in an assisted living facility; would that count? She has gotten a booster, but there were other residents who did not. The staff situation is also not clear; are there some who have yet to start the vaccination process? Having POTUS's mandate halted, there may well be. I visited my mom yesterday, keeping my mask on until I was inside her apartment. When I was leaving, she accompanied me to the front desk where I had to check out. On the way there and standing in line for the terminal, it hit me that my mom was the only resident wearing a mask. I am not taking this as a good sign. Visitors and staff were masked but not residents, except for Mom.

Were we working together more easily in the early days of the pandemic? Did we have a common interest that we've since lost? Ed Yong, a science writer at The Atlantic says, "Individualism couldn't beat Delta, it won't beat Omicron, and it won't beat the rest of the Greek alphabet to come. Self-interest is self-defeating, and as long as its hosts ignore that lesson, the virus will keep teaching it." There were people who, along the way, did not want to comply with mitigation measures such as masks, capacity limits, or distancing. But the big schism to me seemed to come with vaccines. I'm not sure we'll ever be on the same page of the pandemic-ending manual.

And so it's a not-too-much-news Friday. My mind seems full of what ifs, whys, and yes buts. I've decided that I am more scared now than I have been at any point along the way to here. 

The View from the Hermitage, Day 85

Having read "Protestors risk infection to 'do whatever it takes'" (subheadlined "Pent-up anger, fatalism drive many to a choice: Marches over quarantine") in today's Washington Post, I'm trying not to feel guilty or over-reacting with my ultra-serious self-quarantine. On the one hand, I am quite active and physically fit for my age and gender. On the other, I have underlying medical issues of varying degrees of severity with my heart, lungs, and kidneys. Three strikes against me? Then there is having had pneumonia almost a year ago now. I only sought medical care because the husband took me and walked me in. After the exam and x-rays, the doc told the husband that it was a very good thing he brought me in when he did. I was by no means seriously ill; I recuperated at home. Left to my own devices, though, I could have ended up much worse. When they say that pneumonia can be one manifestation of covid-19, it scares me possibly more than the underlying health issues.

Moving on to The New York Times, I found this article: "When 511 Epidemiologists Expect to Fly, Hug and Do 18 Other Everyday Activities Again." Here's the intro: "Many epidemiologists are already comfortable going to the doctor, socializing with small groups outside or bringing in mail, despite the coronavirus. But unless there’s an effective vaccine or treatment first, it will be more than a year before many say they will be willing to go to concerts, sporting events or religious services. And some may never greet people with hugs or handshakes again."

There were only four of the 20 everyday activities that more than 41 percent of the sample said they would be willing to do "this summer:" "Bring in mail without precautions; See a doctor for a non-urgent appointment; Vacation overnight within driving distance; Get a haircut at a salon or barber shop." There were six activities that would take a year or more for 42 percent or more of the sample; 64 percent said they would wait that long to "Attend a sporting event, concert or play." Only three percent of the sample said they would be willing to do that "this summer." 

Possibly more interesting were the activities that more than one percent of the sample said they would "never again" do: "Bring in mail without precautions; Exercise at a gym or fitness studio;
Hug or shake hands when greeting a friend; Go out with someone you don't know well; Attend a church or other religious service."

The activity that most intrigues me is bringing in mail without precautions. It was the activity most likely to be done soon; 64 percent said they would do it this summer. However, three percent of the sample said they would never again do it. I think this most intrigues me because it is the one activity on the list that I have not stopped doing even temporarily. The mailbox is at the top of our driveway. Unless the husband is working outside or arriving home from work or the gym (and it's been over three months since he's done that), I am the one who walks up to fetch the mail, sometimes in the company of the family dog. When I bring the mail in, I open things that need to be opened; I don't wipe the outsides of the envelopes first. I think the husband may have done that once, but certainly not much more than that.

The activity most comparable to marching in a protest or demonstration would be the sporting event, concert, or play for which most of the sample would wait a year or more. Seeing the percent of people "in the know" who would not do that right now does, I admit, make me feel better about not breaking hermitting to go out myself. Any  port in a storm perhaps? Maybe, but I'll take what I can get right now.