Navigating COVID

"Everything we are doing is still a crap shoot. We will do what works, until it does not work. Then we will go to Plan "B", whatever that is. In any event, that is our new world of COVID. And it is anything, but normal."

Like many of us, I am ready to pinch myself to see if this is all a dream. And a bad one, at that. This uninvited guest from Wuhan, China, is changing us. It is changing the way we shop, the way we work, the way we educate our young, the way we play sports (if at all), the way we defend this country, the way we socialize, even the way we worship. Even some of the most mundane things we have taken for granted in the past, have now changed.

Is this only restating the obvious? Ground we have covered so many times before? Here is the new twist. Even though I am hesitant to use the term "new normal", this COVID adapted lifestyle we have right now, might be it for a while. Maybe - a long while. 

Because of the fact we are all social beings, relational beings, this has been the hardest thing to adapt to. Treating others like they are lepers, and having them do the same to us. To not do so, means opening an element of unnecessary risk. For example, some in our "bulletproof" generation (young people in their 30's), have been attending COVID parties. Just to see if anyone could get infected. I know - stupid see as stupid do. Well, last week, one of them got sick and died from COVID. All of a sudden, these parties are not so fun anymore. 

What have we really learned so far? Living in a long term care facility is still the riskiest place to be. Even though the percentage of people who are dying from this virus keeps ticking down, a disproportionate amount of the folks who die live in congregate settings. In other words, the longer you are exposed to this virus in a long term care facility, prison, homeless shelter, or whatever - the greater chance you have of catching it. And for the old and/or infirmed, that is bad news. 

We have also learned that mostly this virus is transmitted via the (inside) air. It is very small, and usually hitchhikes on aerosol size moisture globules. It is not as transmittable as easily as once thought from surfaces, but the air we breathe is a different story. And that is where the biggest bugaboo is. Masks are of little value in keeping some of these viruses out of our lungs, and the six feet of "social distancing" might not be enough. Why? Once these viruses attach to aerosol sized moisture globules, some scientists believe they can stay in the air for 2 to 3 hours.

What does all this mean? We are not fighting something which is coming over in waves from China. The virus is us. We are the transmitters. We carry it, we spread it. What can save us from ourselves, other than hunkering and bunkering in our basements once again? Will it be herd immunity? Maybe - or maybe not. Vaccine(s)? Maybe. Or they might be hit or miss like our annual flu vaccine. The virus morphing into something much less contagious and toxic? We pray that might be the answer. But for right now, in 2020, we need to learn how to navigate COVID.

One final word about how we navigate this thing. And parents of school age kids already know this. We are less than two months away now from schools starting up again. The "distance learning" we tried last school year was a failure. Mostly because we were not ready for it, and did not know how to do it. By the same token, many districts are reticent to fully open up in September. They are pushing for a "hybrid solution", whatever that means. Stay tuned on this one folks. The final solution to this vexing problem is nowhere near.

Sorry I could not be more upbeat. Better news. If you have your fingers crossed for a stellar NFL season this fall, you might want to uncross them. Everything we are doing is still a crap shoot. We will do what works, until it works no longer. Then we will go to Plan "B", whatever that is. In any event, that is our new world of COVID. And it is anything, but normal.