How is it only July? How was Tiger King only FOUR MONTHS AGO?
So much has happened this year; so much has changed since this virus entered our lives.
In a short amount of time, life as we know it has changed. We added new terms to our daily vocabulary: “PUI” and “social distancing,” just to name two. New information comes so fast: we have endured countless policy changes and isolation recommendations, testing procedures and health recommendations, screening tools, symptoms to look for, and other admission criteria. We changed our daily routines for both work and home. We have spent our own money on respirators and surgical caps, as well as easy-to-disinfect backpacks, shoes, and gear holders. We have dealt with the dread of impending ventilator and bed shortages, all while trying to encourage the general public that this is a real thing worth personal sacrifice to fight.
Initially, the public took it seriously. There was nobody on the roads, nobody shopping, and nobody made eye contact at the grocery stores. It was a little depressing, seeing everyone afraid to make any sort of human contact and having to forego socializing—missing birthdays, cancelling weddings, and not going to funerals.
After not too long though, people who weren’t personally impacted by the virus got bored, people got lazy, and they received different messages depending on their news choice. Somehow this virus got politicized. One side was told the virus was real and that shutting down cities was worthwhile, while the other side was told it was mostly hype and would blow over soon and that lifting restrictions in an effort to save the economy was more worthwhile than keeping people locked down. Some politicians even suggested that it was a worthy cause for old people to die for the sake of our economy.
We are just now seeing the effects of lifting restrictions. Here in Texas, it was not too long after the governor opened bars before he was forced to shut them down again due to increased infections and deaths. Infection numbers have skyrocketed and we are heading towards a worsening crisis.
The president has urged states to fully re-open public schools in a few weeks. Only time will tell if those will be hotspots for spreading infection. It’s a known fact that flus and colds spread rapidly through schools, so it seems likely that we will hear news stories of schools being like Petri dishes for COVID.
As much as I want to say that we should keep schools closed and keep everyone on lockdown, part of me questions for how long this can continue. Experts are saying there could be a vaccine, but is that real? Will that happen? Will it be safe and effective? Will there be enough supply for everyone? Are we supposed to stay isolated and locked down until then? What if it’s years away?
I don’t have the answers. Neither do you. Neither do the experts.
What I do know is that I have seen things that I could have never imagined. Keeping this in perspective that most COVID patients are safe to recover at home, some die. And the ones who are dying are doing so in ways I couldn’t have fathomed.
A conscious and not-altered patient with a chief complaint of “cough” and a pulse ox of 11%? I would have previously thought the machine was broken. Entire units of hospitals with people laying face-down, looking lie a morgue? “Not in this country,” I would have thought. Endless phone calls asking for updates of loved ones because of a “no visitor” policy. People routinely dying afraid and alone. This hardly seems like what I thought medicine in 2020 would look like.
It’s crazy to me that some people aren’t taking this seriously. I admit that I wasn’t taking it seriously at first, only a few short months ago, but now—after seeing this, I don’t know how you could ignore it. It’s sad that some people will need to see a loved one die before they take it seriously. We should all be treating this “like the plague,” because it is the freaking plague. This is OUR plague.
In every zombie movie, only the idiots go out in public. In Bird Box, it was crazy to go outside. Everyone watching knew that was a mistake. But somehow for real life, in the worst pandemic in a hundred years, people can’t stop having barbecues and parties.
So, in combination of the fact that a lot of states have little-to-no restrictions, schools are about to open, questionable vaccine status, and the fact that half of the population doesn’t take this seriously, it looks like this is going to be the “new normal.”
When was the last time you shook someone’s hand? When was the last time you felt completely normal while out in public?
When will this go back to “normal?” Will it ever go back to the way it was? Are masks here to stay? Are movie theaters and bars gone for good?
Only time will tell.
Stay safe.
