‘Why get sick if I don’t have to?’ Here’s to maintaining the good fight against COVID

COVID-19 has me surrounded. Like zombies in the cult film “Night of the Living Dead,” the virus keeps staggering toward my door, leaving me no way out.

I’ve been watching the encroachment for over two years. From vague rumors emanating from far off Wuhan in December 2019, to the first confirmed cases in San Luis Obispo County in March 2020, the coronavirus has inexorably invaded my life.

I sensed the gravitas of the onslaught early on. While others were dismissing the pandemic as a blip on our collective radar screens, I somehow realized we were witnessing history in the making. Despite what some elected officials were saying, I didn’t think life would be back to normal in a matter of weeks. Friends now remind me, “You said this was going to be big.”

Therefore, I was quick to comply with pandemic protocols. I stayed home, wore a mask, socially distanced and washed my hands. I was eager to heed the recommendations of scientists who were experts on the spread of disease.

Still, COVID-19 remained in my periphery. Yes, I watched the evening news clips showing jam-packed ICUs and exhausted medical personnel. I had one elderly relative pass away in a dementia facility. But that was minimally impactful. I was fortunate to be able to avoid crowds and keep healthy. I’d received my three vaccinations. The pandemic was directly affecting others, not me.

All that changed in December when the number of omicron variant cases started to soar to record levels. Two of my immediate family members told me days before Christmas that they’d been in contact with someone who was infected. Fortunately, both of their test results were negative; our festivities went off as planned. Still, I waited until the last minute to buy groceries. I had no idea who’d be able to come.

This last week two dear friends have been infected. Their families are forced to isolate, too. These are folks that we see on a daily basis. It’s nearly impossible to extricate our lives.

Adding to the growing sense of impending peril are the mixed messages bombarding us from all sides: the severity of the omicron variant is reportedly milder, but upgrade your mask to an N95. Send kids to school but test them on a regular basis. like crazy. Get together with vaccinated friends but stay away from crowds. Even, Dr. Anthony Fauci admitting on CNN that omicron will “find just about everybody.”

There’s no clearly marked exit for me to escape.

Sometimes I wonder if I should quit trying to be safe, allow myself to get sick and be done with all the worry. But a recent article in The Atlantic warns that the more opportunities the virus has to replicate, the more variants will possibly arise. And why get sick if I don’t have to? Besides, after all this time, contracting the virus somehow feels like a failure, as if I’ve done something wrong.

So here I sit, watching COVID close in around me. I’ll do what I can to avoid catching it. It remains to be seen if that’s enough.