“But I Just Know MY People are COVID-Free”: Human Nature Fails Us Yet Again

Don’t shame me, if I want to rent a house and lay on the beach with twenty of my fabulous friends from across the country, that’s what I’m going to do.

I thought about this for a moment. Shaming. I didn’t know about her latest vacay plans when I told her about my grandmother’s lonely suffering in a care facility after three surgeries and the death of her daughter, that my own child was at-risk for severe COVID symptoms, and that my husband sees people in hazmat suits every day he goes to work.

I’ll give her that: providing a glimpse into reality and condemning risky, unnecessary travel is shaming…if you feel ashamed. I call it Practical Pandemic Knowledge 101. Or Common Sense for Kiddies. Or Being Part of the Real World: A Beginners’ Guide. But I can see why she felt called out, being a purveyor of health and wellness, after all. Personally, I think it’s a bad look even for someone on the fringes of the health industry to flagrantly ignore real science-based recommendations during a pandemic.

I’ll admit it: my “COVID Fatigue” got to me.

We’ve all heard of it. We all experience it. Well, maybe not everybody. My travel-shamed friend has been bopping all over the place to mix it up with groups of people since COVID ramped up in the summer. Which is why I took my frustration with cancelled vacations, inability to see my family and friends, and the stress of my husband’s job to her and said I couldn’t support her business anymore. Voting with my dollar. I can’t knowingly support a business (and definitely not a health and wellness group) which doesn’t take novel coronavirus seriously, and flaunts behavior that perpetuates the continued and worsening pandemic.

Which brings us to the holidays. People who have been traveling through the summer of COVID and those who have followed the recommended guidelines and laid low during the same time are going to be itching for the traditional rituals of parties, family gatherings and good cheer that the holidays bring. Even my mostly-introverted family is ready to escape the walls of our home for some fun. But given the recent rise in reported COVID cases, the highest since over the summer, multiple sources from across the country are discouraging our much-needed holiday fun.

njspotlight.com: New Jersey officials report that 16% of COVID cases in their state are related to small house parties and family gatherings. While 16% may not seem significant, it is New Jersey’s highest percentage of “location-associated cases,” other than healthcare facilities and schools.

blockclubchicago.org: “Please, do not invite anyone over to your house or apartment…This is not the time for non-essential gatherings, period.” states Dr. Allison Arwady, head of the Chicago, Illinois, Department of Public Health. In an analysis of the city’s COVID cases, two-thirds were contracted from close contacts…family, friends and coworkers. And 75% of these interactions took place at home.

kyma.com (Yuma, Arizona): A video posted October 20 included interviews from medical experts who state “At the very least assume everyone you come in contact is asymptomatically infected and contagious and then wear a mask and social distance.” And also “…Avoiding large gatherings of families because we’ve seen a lot of family transmission.” The regional hospital, El Centro Regional Hospital, has seen a nearly 10-fold increase in COVID hospitalizations, and the community is seeing multiple positives within single households.

And let’s let the world’s most lovable Samoan weigh in (he and his family all contracted COVID from close family friends): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kRbMcs98wg

It’s human nature to believe our tribes…family, good friends, coworkers, fellow members at our places of worship…are more healthy and more conscientious than “regular” folks. But in reality, we are all “regular folks.” COVID doesn’t care about race, creed, religion, politics…or any other belief system we hold. It’s a virus. It will find willing and able hosts wherever it can. Even within members of a health and wellness group just hanging out at the beach. Especially groups of that nature congregating under one roof, and coming from all corners of the country. And that is just one example. It doesn’t matter that we socially distance and wash our hands and wear masks on the airplane ride if we don’t follow the same guidelines at our destination. We can still get sick, and even if not, as an actual health and wellness expert stated in his interview for station KYMA in Yuma, AZ/El Centro, CA:

“At the very least assume everyone you come in contact is asymptomatically infected and contagious and then wear a mask and social distance.”

Don’t be part of the problem.

Do be part of the solution.

Don’t be a vector.

It really is that simple.

Want to learn more about coping with COVID Fatigue? Click here for a great article from UCDavis Health.