May 2021 Pandemic

 

In March 2020, the world exploded to the news of Covid 19.  Initially, we really didn’t understand that we were truly facing a worldwide pandemic, worse than SARS and BIrd Flu and other recent worldwide health threats.   Some countries took it ultra-seriously and locked down their borders, trying to prevent it from “getting in”. Others more gradually came to a realization that things needed to be done to prevent it spreading within their countries.  As time went on, the health authorities realized that Covid 19 had probably gotten a toe hold within their countries long before the outbreak in Wuhan brought it to the world’s attention.  Some countries did nothing, hoping for “herd immunity” to develop on its own, while others put basic sanitation restrictions in place to help prevent it spreading.   

Recognizing finally that the situation was closer to the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918 or the Black Death Bubonic Plague of the 1300s, then the “yearly flu” or the “common cold” strains that naysayers had originally tried to compare Covid 19 to. 

During the initial months, everyday it seemed that the rules were revised, as scientists learned more about the disease and world leaders tried to figure out better ways to protect people. 

Hearkening back to the Victory Gardens of WWI and II and the resiliency that people around the world have always shown when presented with impossible scenarios, we transformed our homes overnight into offices, schools and hospital suites as we worked from home, our children went to virtual school and we nursed our family members who were stricken. As shortages around the world affected what we could purchase, we learned to grown our own food as our forbearers did and to joke about the “great toilet paper shortage of 2020”.  Rather than tear up sheets to make bandages as the women did during wars from the Revolution to WWII, we cut them up and made facemasks out of them. 

When we couldn’t come together in person to discuss or solve an issue, from scientists to school children, we met “online” to solve it, using “zoom” meeting platforms, skype, google chat and facetime.  Every individual, every family unit, found their own comfort level. Some didn’t leave their homes for over a year, ordering everything from groceries to computers online. Others moved in together to better take care of each other.  From Medical professionals to grocery store workers, some had to work outside their homes, risking themselves in order to help provide and care for others.  As schools went to “virtual” learning and childcare facilities closed, parents (primarily mothers) stopped working outside their homes, in order to care for and protect their families. 

We bought Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Payment Protection Programs (PPP) and swam against the current trying to learn and
remember what initials stood for what. 

Scientists and major medical research facilities have rushed to create vaccines to help us return to normal and while some have said they don’t trust a vaccine that was “rushed” to get it out, the Scientists and medical professionals have told us that they are safe. 

Confusing as one municipality followed one set of rules, while a neighboring municipality followed different rules. Simply crossing a street could change what rules one was supposed to follow. Minimum rules were simple – stay 6 feet away from anyone not part of your immediate household, wear masks unless you were at home or the only person in the room, wash your hands for at least 20 seconds and/or use hand sanitizer, sneeze and cough into a tissue then throw it away (and if you didn’t have a tissue, use the inside of your elbow).   

Through it all, there were those who refused to take things seriously.  Opting to make fun of the restrictions, and in some cases trying to stop the scientists and leaders who were trying to keep us safe from enacting safety restrictions that limited the number of people who could be in a facility at the same time, to help ensure that we could safely maintain our 6 feet of separation.

 

Then the vaccines became available!! Though the roll out differed widely in different parts of the world, 

and many people had to travel great distances to get them, the world pivoted again.  “First World” countries have access to the vaccines, though “Third World” countries, the poorest and most vulnerable are still without enough doses to cover even their first line responders and medical professionals. 

Now it’s May of 2021. Lessons have been learned. Rules revised and re-revised and fine-tuned.  And more importantly, we have finally reached the point where restrictions can be lifted in many “First World” countries because of the number of people who are vaccinated!  While we still haven’t reached even 50% of the population having been vaccinated in the US, the vaccines are now available for everyone age 12 and up and nearly 47% of the population has gotten at least one shot. 

Last Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said that fully vaccinated individuals didn’t need to wear masks in public or social distance themselves from their friends any longer. Grandparents can once more hug their sons and daughters and their grandchildren.  The restrictions aren’t totally gone, we will still need to wear masks and distance ourselves when we travel, visit hospitals and in some other situations, but the weight that many of us have carried on our shoulders for over a year has dropped. 

Each situation is unique and each company or organization has the right to set the rules that they want the individuals associated with them to follow, but the feeling of relief permeates the air. 

The Real Estate Company that I am associated with, is still requiring that, in order to help protect others, I take my temperature each day before coming to the office or meeting with clients, that I wear a mask when in the office, maintain “social distancing” and wash my hands or sanitize them frequently even though I am vaccinated.  It is an easy request to make of me, and one that I will follow until the point that the company policy changes. 

Today, we had “In Person” church services at St Mark Presbyterian for the first time in 14 months.  The church leaders have requested that everyone entering the church wear a mask. That we maintain social distancing, that we wash our hands or sanitize them frequently and that we “hum along” rather than sing during the service. It is an easy request of them to make of me, and one that I and my fellow church members will follow until the church feels comfortable that everyone from our most vulnerable members to our hardiest ones, will continue to be safe if we stop doing those things. 

Yesterday, I attended an “in person” American Legion meeting.  The American Legion Post who owns the facility, has stated that it is no longer necessary to wear masks inside or to “socially distance” ourselves when we attend functions there based on the guidance provided by the CDC, County Executive’s office and County Health Department.  Yet, I noted at the meeting, that while many vaccinated individuals chose not to wear their masks throughout the meeting, some individuals chose to continue wearing their masks. I also noted that everyone in the room continued to sit at a socially distanced space from their friends, though some after the meeting, stood close together talking and catching up.   The meeting showed a gradual shift in how safe individuals felt and how slowly everyone is moving to the new normal.

As I pass through the community, I come to restaurants and shops that no longer require their guests to wear masks, but do require their staff to do so.  Others require both guests and staff to wear masks.  As I did prior to the pandemic when I felt the sanitation in a restaurant was “lacking”, I will weigh my feelings of safety and the safety of those with me, against the “stated rules” and how those rules are actually being followed, to determine if I wish to continue to do business with those restaurants and shops or not.  I will “vote with my feet” as the old saying goes, and take my business to restaurants and shops where I feel comfortable. 

I am certain that the restrictions and rules will continue to evolve.  I’m also certain that I will continue to carry a mask with me, have extra masks in my cars and at my office and wear my masks when I’m out in the community for a while.  Perhaps it is just me, but after 14 months or ups and downs; lowered numbers then spikes; the many Covid variants that are now presenting themselves and the knowledge that while my “First World” life may be on the cusp of a new beginning, for the many people in both “Second and Third Worlds”, this is far from over.