As I write this, more than 175,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19. That’s more than 85% of the population of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Despite that, we seem to be itching to get back to normal.

Some of our push to gather with others is because we’re tired of this odd way of life. But an interesting article in the Washington Post noted that many of us are also going through a form of exposure therapy. Every time we successfully go out without becoming ill, it helps us feel more comfortable with the threat of the pandemic, no matter what the statistics are.

This would be fine if our choices only affected us. I believe that many people think that way: “I’m willing to take a risk.”

But that risk could affect those around us. There is no guarantee we will know if we get the virus. We could spread it accidentally. We could hurt strangers… and our loved ones.

COVID-19 is not just something that kills the old

Early on in this pandemic, some leaders were urging people in high-risk groups to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, believing that the coronavirus only really hurts the old and those who are immunocompromised. Worse, their statements suggested that people who are in those categories are expendable.

Beyond its callousness, this point of view gives us a false picture of the virus. Yes, many of the people who are dying are over 70. But we cannot count on our kids being safe. In one family of five, four members contracted the virus. The parents both had light cases, one of their children “never even got it,” and two, both teens, were hospitalized for a month.

This leads me to another concern about the way we view the virus. We tend to focus on the two possible outcomes for those who get COVID-19:

• You get it, and you die.
• You get it, and you survive.

But dying from COVID-19 can be a horrible way to die. And surviving isn’t that simple. The two teenaged boys whose story I mentioned above are now in recovery and undergoing therapy. One boy mentioned that he lost 50 pounds. In his words, he woke up “a skinny, weak kid.” The other boy recited a list of the therapy he now needs: “Physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy.”

Two children, both hospitalized for a month, both needing extensive therapy to recovery. How will this affect the family financially? How many families or individuals who are hospitalized with COVID-19 will face bills they cannot afford?

There are also survivors who still suffer from symptoms like fatigue or fever. How long will they continue to feel sick? If they catch something else, like a flu, what will that do to their weakened bodies?

What we can do to help

For the sake of strangers as well as those we know and love, we need to continue to take the pandemic seriously and stop expecting things to improve on our own time schedules.

We already know many of the ways we can help others. It’s time to get over politicizing masks and just wear them, even if they aren’t very comfortable, because they help. We need to maintain physical distance from others and avoid large crowds. And we need to wash our hands thoroughly and often.

But we also need to be thoughtful as we make decisions about what risks to take. When possible, we should rely on data to make those decisions. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find data that are easy to access and interpret. The best data source I found was this set of charts and maps showing trends in the number of cases in each state. If you are thinking of driving to visit family in another state and cases have been trending downward in each state for at least 14 days, you may feel safe about paying the visit, but if cases are growing in either state, you might delay that trip. Of course, this information depends on testing and accurate reporting from each state.

A second consideration is: What is your COVID-19 risk? There is a tool by Mathematica that will calculate your risk based on where you live, your age, pre-existing conditions, how many people you and your family are in close contact with each week, whether or not you diligently wash your hands, and if you wear PPE consistent with CDC guidelines (that last bit is odd, because the guidelines are for healthcare workers — I certainly don’t wear gloves, a gown, or a respirator).

In the United States, we’ve lived with COVID-19 for approximately six months now. It’s easy to relax our vigilance as we get used to the potential dangers, but we need to stay the course.

Note: I’m changing the frequency of my posts

When I started this blog, I was posting twice a week. That was an unsustainable pace.

Once a week has worked better for me, but I’m still feeling a bit of a time crunch. I tend to put off writing about topics that will require a lot of research in favor of posts that take me less time to pull together. In addition, my blogging time is eating into time I could devote to other writing projects.

So I’m going to try posting every other week for a while and see how that works. Hopefully freeing up some time means that I’ll be able to announce a new e-book this fall!