We are headed into the 10th month of this pandemic and I am starting to feel like there is no light at the end of this tunnel. Numbers keep going up, rules keep changing, death tolls keep rising and we continue to feel isolated from many of our friends and family. We missed celebrating Thanksgiving with others…..will we have to miss Christmas too? Wearing a mask has become so normal to me that I have at times caught myself questioning why something looks “off” while watching a movie or show, only to discover that I was confused about the lack of masks; the funny thing is that now newly released episodes are starting to have masks and covid included. It’s easy to get complacent with this pandemic, but we must remember why we are doing all this in the first place.
Yes, the majority of people that catch Covid-19 will be affected mildly (like a cold or flu) or not at all (asymptomatic), but what about the others? I know a few people that think they had Covid based on experiencing a few uncommon symptoms (e.g. taste disturbance), a few people that tested positive and had a moderate fever, chills, and headache, but I also know people that are/were affected badly. Do you know anyone that had/has severe health complications due to Covid-19? I recently had my first experience with knowing someone close to me that was affected badly by Covid. They were in the hospital for over 6 weeks, on a ventilator for oxygen, and put into a coma to maintain stability during the recovery. The sound of that was so scary to me when considering my friends, family, neighbors, extended community, and patients. Luckily they are out of the hospital now and making a slow recovery. Losing someone to Covid would be the worst.
I think we all need to remember this and stay humble during these crazy times. I feel like we will be hearing about the ramifications of Covid-19 for at least another year, but I am certain that at some point it will be over and just a memory.