Oops.
I got my hopes up and let my guard down.
Last Wednesday, four days ago, I attended a large indoor banquet. No one wore masks. I have regrets.
The Southern Oregon Historical Society held a gala announcing plans for a new event center in downtown Medford. By Southern Oregon standards, especially now, after the two-year reset on the meaning of "business casual," it was dress up. Most men wore coats and ties. For the first time in two years I saw familiar people face-to-face in a large gathering. It was a fundraising event with donation-priced tickets and then a charity auction. Pre-COVID, I attended about eight of these a year.
There was crowding at the silent auction bid sheets, but the event center is a commodious meeting room with 30 foot ceilings. The dinner tables were spread out. We were seated comfortably with friends at a round table that could have held eight. There were six at the table.
Mentally, I gave a big sigh of relief to being at a gathering. We were back to normal. COVID had downgraded to a rarity and a mere nuisance. No one wore masks. Why should we? COVID counts are way down and I am vaccinated and boosted, as is everyone I know.
Then, Saturday night, another welcome event: The Roosevelt-Kennedy Democratic dinner. It is a 70-year tradition. Back when Oregon was one of only a few states with primary elections, the annual gala drew Democratic presidential aspirants. John Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Hubert Humphrey and a dozen other senators had been keynote speakers. This, too, was dress-up. Half the men wore neckties.
Again, it was a big banquet room. High ceilings. Lots of air. This time there were eight of us at tables. No one wore masks. Why should we? We are Democrats. Of course we are vaccinated and boosted.
On January 16, three months ago, I had attended a Republican gubernatorial candidate debate held at the local country club banquet room. I left immediately after I saw that out of a hundred people in the room, with the exception of a woman who said she had lung cancer, I was the only one wearing a mask.
It was so careless of them, I thought. Omicron was everywhere in January. Hospital emergency rooms were backed up. Hospitals were cancelling surgeries. Public service announcements pleaded with people to get vaccinated. Republicans were responding with "Let's go, Brandon." My blog post describing the event called it a "chicken pox party," an obvious, maybe intentional, superspreader event. After all, they were activist Republicans, proudly announcing on bumper strips that vaccinations were tyranny.
That was then. Everything changed. The two-year winter of our discontent was over, it appeared. Maybe everyone who could get COVID got vaccinated or got the disease or both. It is spring. Free at last.
Now this. On Sunday I read that a recent gala event in D.C., crowded with 600 Democrats, generated over 60 new COVID cases. Ten percent! Yikes! Then I learned yesterday that two of the people at the Historical Society event, people I had greeted warmly, tested positive for COVID.
So now we are turning the calendar back into the long COVID winter of discontent. Once again, gatherings represent danger. I have meetings planned for later this month. I expect to go to a college class reunion in June. There will be 800 of us there. Once again, I mentally run through a calculation of risk and reward. Maybe it is back to masks. Or Zoom.
Or maybe I just stop worrying and assume that I and everyone else will get breakthrough COVID the way I used to get colds, once or twice every school year. It was an inconvenience, not a catastrophe. If people with "Let's go, Brandon" and "Resist Vaccination" bumper strips on their cars get COVID and die, it's their problem, not mine. My COVID will likely be nothing a Tylenol won't fix. After all, I'm boosted and will happily keep getting boosted--whatever it takes.
But maybe not. I hear stories about "long COVID" and long-term organ damage, and sometimes symptoms are serious, especially for people my age. I am seeing break-though cases after people gather. Everything is different again.
For two glorious springtime weeks, I was carefree. Now I'm not.
I just found out another person who attended the historical society event tested positive this morning. Maybe this person got it after the event, since the incubation period is shorter for Omicron? But it is definitely concerning. :-(
We are with you! I chose to forego the SOHS event in an abundance of caution and to be sure someone who would write a bigger check got a seat. As a retired RN/NP I recommend that anyone who does not want to catch Covid wear a well-fitting mask in public/close contact. Sadly we elders, immunocompromised, vulnerable and small children are going to have to be vigilant. Yes, “tylenol” will likely get us through, but a virus that effects the blood vessels and clotting mechanisms is no joke. We will continue to miss the meetings and conference we have so enjoyed. Travel will be carefully planned. Risks carefully weighed. I do hope only two of our SOHS friends are positive and doing well.