Oops.
I got my hopes up and let my guard down.
Last Wednesday, four days ago, I attended a large indoor banquet. No one wore masks. I have regrets.
The Southern Oregon Historical Society held a gala announcing plans for a new event center in downtown Medford. By Southern Oregon standards, especially now, after the two-year reset on the meaning of "business casual," it was dress up. Most men wore coats and ties. For the first time in two years I saw familiar people face-to-face in a large gathering. It was a fundraising event with donation-priced tickets and then a charity auction. Pre-COVID, I attended about eight of these a year.
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| Officeholder speeches, here Pam Marsh |
Then, Saturday night, another welcome event: The Roosevelt-Kennedy Democratic dinner. It is a 70-year tradition. Back when Oregon was one of only a few states with primary elections, the annual gala drew Democratic presidential aspirants. John Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Hubert Humphrey and a dozen other senators had been keynote speakers. This, too, was dress-up. Half the men wore neckties.
Again, it was a big banquet room. High ceilings. Lots of air. This time there were eight of us at tables. No one wore masks. Why should we? We are Democrats. Of course we are vaccinated and boosted.
On January 16, three months ago, I had attended a Republican gubernatorial candidate debate held at the local country club banquet room. I left immediately after I saw that out of a hundred people in the room, with the exception of a woman who said she had lung cancer, I was the only one wearing a mask.
It was so careless of them, I thought. Omicron was everywhere in January. Hospital emergency rooms were backed up. Hospitals were cancelling surgeries. Public service announcements pleaded with people to get vaccinated. Republicans were responding with "Let's go, Brandon." My blog post describing the event called it a "chicken pox party," an obvious, maybe intentional, superspreader event. After all, they were activist Republicans, proudly announcing on bumper strips that vaccinations were tyranny.
That was then. Everything changed. The two-year winter of our discontent was over, it appeared. Maybe everyone who could get COVID got vaccinated or got the disease or both. It is spring. Free at last.
Now this. On Sunday I read that a recent gala event in D.C., crowded with 600 Democrats, generated over 60 new COVID cases. Ten percent! Yikes! Then I learned yesterday that two of the people at the Historical Society event, people I had greeted warmly, tested positive for COVID.
But maybe not. I hear stories about "long COVID" and long-term organ damage, and sometimes symptoms are serious, especially for people my age. I am seeing break-though cases after people gather. Everything is different again.
For two glorious springtime weeks, I was carefree. Now I'm not.
21 comments:
My wife and I were vaccinated, boosted, wore masks and kept our distance, but I got breakthrough COVID anyway. Symptoms were mild, but we both got tested to see if we needed to quarantine and we did. It's different for everyone, but I was only sick for one day and she never got it.
The last thing we want to do is add to the burden of our local heroes who spent the pandemic working in the hospitals. On the other hand, life is getting shorter every day. At some point we just have to try and live with whatever it throws at us. Cases and deaths have significantly dropped, so this weekend, for the first time in ages, we went to a movie and to the Camelot Theater. It was great. We’ll see what happens.
I got the second booster and wore a mask in Costco where very few also wore a mask. I wondered if I was being over cautious, but at least I wasn’t angry at those who weren’t wearing a mask. The thing is that some brain damage can occur from long Covid and I need to hang on to as many brain cells as I can. The country has moved on and it’s up to the vulnerable to take care of themselves at this point. I guess that’s fair. Glad I don’t have to feel the anger I used to toward non compliance.
Vaxxed and twice boosted, I attended the Saturday event with Peter, and went maskless. The first real social event with more than two or three people in two years. I'm still isolating the vast majority of the time, given the still low Vaccination rate in this County, and the town I reside in. I also mask going into stores, I just don't want to get sick, and Long Covid is too big a risk for me.
The science surely is not settled, some will get COVID despite precautions, and others will not.
We've got so many data points, but few cause and effect conclusions.
My wife and I are fully vaxed and boosted. Of our large circle of friends here in central Florida, perhaps 1/4 of them have contracted COVID and recovered without issue. They come from all walks of life and from all over the US. The only thing in common is that we're all retired. All are or were vaccinated, and most boosted.
At our annual physical last week, we both talked to our doctor about the 4th booster and the current state of COVID. We asked, "why do some people not get COVID, while others do, and even some, repeatedly?". Her answer, "we really don't know, yet".
My wife and I have been tested more than 20 times via different methods and by different test sites. Some antigen, others PCR. Some with a nasal swab, and others by spitting into a test tube. All negative.
We prepared for a recent 2 week trip to Germany and Czech Republic in March, apprehensive that we might test positive for the first time. A Viking land and river cruise with several friends from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states. Our group of 16 originally scheduled for 2020, whittled down to 13 starting mid-March last month.
The airline required a negative test result and vaccination proof. Germany and Czech Republic only required vaccination proof for entry into the country. Hotel check-in required required proof of vaccination. Some restaurants required proof of vaccination. Viking not only required vaccination proof, but negative PCR test result and proof of insurance before we left the US. During the river cruise portion, Viking also performed daily tests of passengers via PCR and spitting into test tubes.
Alas. One of our group tested positive the first day while her husband did not. They were removed from the ship, and were taken to Berlin for a weeklong quarantine. The husband went with her, but never tested positive, staying in a separate room.
Our learnings? We still don't know why we've never contracted COVID, despite having a large circle of friends, traveling, and interacting with a broad section of humanity. Did I mention we've also been to Disney World and Universal Studios many times. We've attended entertainment venues like the Broadway series here in Orlando. We've traveled to Georgia to visit family. We've been to restaurants many, many times.
Have we been lucky, careful, or both?
The science certainly has not been settled. We've freely given permission to use our test samples and results to help answer those questions. My son and grandson have both tested positive, but asymptomatic.
We mask when asked or when required. Otherwise, mask free. And we do wash our hands frequently, and use hand sanitizer at other times.
Yes, some are apparently susceptible to getting COVID, and some even several times.
Our doctor suggested we don't need that 4th booster because of our history. She firmly believes in the vaccination, and even got vaxed while pregnant.
I do wish we could determine the answer to the question, "why do some never get COVID?".
Large gatherings increase the chance of exposure. Probably OK if you don't press the flesh. No handshakes, hugs or sharing desserts. Maintain social distance from strangers whose vax status may be in question. Practice the hygiene we've all mastered and keep the mask for COSTCO and Home Depot. Maybe it's just a fashion statement now, but it's all about the percentages, right?
Just a little while longer...2% positivity in Jackson Co...
Personally, I'm enjoying a two year break from colds and flu and going for year three. Allergies are another matter. Who knew such simple things would bring such rewards?
My somewhat anti-social proclivities are now a survival skill!
Vaxxed + 1 booster. Being very careful because at the age of 75, I do not want to run into long Covid.
Sometimes we will get together at someone’s home for dinner with a few couples. Mask free, but everyone tests the morning of the event.
How is life getting shorter?
People need to realize that life has risks, and more so during the pandemic. Even more when they are among those they may not know so well.
Peter took a risk.
Other's noncompliance can be deadly to you. If you want to accept that risk, that's your choice.
I'm still masking because, frankly, I don't want to rely on others to protect me.
With so much genetic variation, it is not surprising that some people have been able to avoid COVID so far. That is in addition to the vaccine, physical distancing, proper hygiene, wearing a mask (or two) and taking proper care of yourself.
Some people have the gift of a strong immune system. Others seem to catch everything going around unless they are extra careful at all times.
Also useful to understand how a mask works:
Masking reduces what you expel when you breathe, sneeze, or cough.
Masking may reduce risk somewhat when you breathe in from the environment around you. Just recall this when you wear a mask - if you can smell odors around you when wearing a mask, recall that the virus is much smaller. If odors and smoke get thru the mask, so will the COVID virus.
All the steps help, but none totally prevent.
If you are wearing any mask other than an N-95 or KN-95, you might as well not bother.
Mc asks, "How is life getting shorter?"
It's getting shorter because with each passing day we get that much closer to our expiration date, so be grateful and don't forget your good deed for the day.
This is false information. Wearing 2 of the 3-ply general purpose disposable masks is better.
I don't think that's true.
Other masks provide protection from infectious diseases.
Think about your last dental visit or surgery prior to the pandemic. Did your doctor wear an N-95? Likely not.
Just because something provides less protection doesn't mean it provides no protection.
That's true, but the mitigation measures are cumulative.
People survived before Costco and Home Depot.
People, let's remember science.
Virus are/have always been present and killing people throughout history.
A virus will likely eventually wipe man off the face of the earth.
Climate change, which many Americans deny exists, will increase transmission/mutation by putting people closer together(less habitable land) and putting people and animals closer together for the same reason.
Also remember that many viruses are endemic, with occasional clusters and epidemics (measles and flu come to mind). The prevention measures for COVID also work well for those.
As one poster mentioned, they've been able to avoid colds and flu for a few seasons thanks to COVID protection measures.
Re: climate change
The climate has been changing long before humans walked the earth. No one is denying that.
They may be denying that humans are responsible for the changing climate. More accurately, it's that human activity, like creature activity may be contributing factors.
Can we Humans stop climate change? Sorry, nope. All we might be able to do is influence it. The climate will continue to change long after the last human is gone.
Re: Climate Change
What humans could do if we were smart is drastically reduce the emission of greenhouse gases that have so significantly heated up the planet since we began using fossil fuels.
My neighbor vaccinated and boosted caught COVID , almost died twice tells me something strange is going on in his brain and speech patterns. He sometimes says a sentence and without warning or a traceable reason. he will substitute a meaningless word. This is my example because I don’t recall his exact words. “I had a taco time tonight.” He also wonders if his entire career as an engineer for Lockheed was meaningless. He feels empty and lost at times and feels maybe he would have been better off dead rather than continuing to have this strange vacant feeling. He has many interests but still carries this confusion with him every day.
How long do you want the human race to last?
Doing nothing to curb climate change ensures a quicker demise.
I guess that's OK if you put corporate greed as a priority.
If the republicans were as "prolife" as they tell voters they are, they'd spend more time working on ways to protect the planet and less time trying to control women.
Do we know for sure what the unintended consequences are of the mitigating factors we've already deployed?
We already are experiencing more wild extremes here in Oregon - the ungodly hot temps of last summer as well as the snow events of the past few days.
Some might blame the human contributions as having caused these. Others might say it could have been worse.
In the end, regardless of what we do the climate will continue to change, and may well cause certain speciaes to go extinct. Just as a previously unknown early body might do if it comes crashing into the earth.
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