COVID Fatigue

Along with a lot of other things, this pandemic has added words and phrases to our every day. I doubt many people understood “pandemic” until Covid. Now it’s “Covid Fatigue.”

In case you haven’t noticed, cases and deaths are blowing up right now.  I heard yesterday that there were more new cases this week than we had in the first three months of the pandemic. That would be March, April, and May when we really didn’t know what to think about this thing and it seemed to be everywhere.

I also heard that deaths are approaching a quarter of a million and that over a million children had contracted the disease. That’s unreal. Those that thought this thing was a hoax or a political maneuver have to admit now that they were wrong.

A healthy 54 year old Maryville native and a friend of mine is fighting for his life in the ICU of an Atlanta hospital. Because of Covid. Small towns that might have been somewhat protected by the isolation of their rural status are now being slammed.

From a sports perspective, There were six forfeits the first week of the football playoffs and four in the second round, including the McMinn County-Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett game which was halted as the teams were warming up for the game. That’s 10 teams that made the playoffs, a dream for many teams, yet couldn’t play.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen to basketball and wrestling. As one of those people tasked with taking care of the health of our young athletes, I find the task daunting if not downright scary.

Let me state for the record that I’m tired of wearing this mask. I’m tired of not seeing my family. I’m tired of not being able to go to restaurants. I’m tired of not shaking hands or hugging.

I’m tired of social distancing. I’m tired of washing my hands every few minutes every time I touch anything or anybody. I’ve never carried around hand sanitizer but now I’m never far from it.

I’m tired of worrying about being a carrier and giving it to one of my patients or someone on my football team but most of all to my wife or one of my grandchildren.

I’m tired of people arguing about personal liberties and government mandates. I’m tired of people getting sick. I’m especially tired of people dying.

Covid fatigue? Oh yeah. For sure. It’s real for me.

But you know what? I’m going to wear that dadgum mask. I’m going to bump elbows instead of shake hands. I’m going to step away several feet during every conversation. I’m going to sanitize my hands after every encounter with anything.

I’m going to continue to do takeout from restaurants and tip generously. I’m going to trust that those preparing the food are observing all those same precautions and if I suspect differently, I won’t be back.

I’m going to continue to travel in separate vehicles from my buddy to go mountain biking because he is even older than me and is concerned about exposure.

I will continue to see my patients and take care of my football players like they are my own child but I will keep my distance from them when I can. And I’m going to continue to keep after them to maintain social distancing and wear their masks. Even though they think I’m just a silly old man.

A vaccine just around the corner? Sure. Maybe. But I don’t think we can wait to do the right thing. All the time. Because I don’t want to get it and I don’t want you to either.