My eldest daughter’s family was exposed to COVID-19 while visiting his relatives on Christmas day. No one realized it then. They just found out that their host tested positive yesterday. Now one of them has symptoms and they are waiting for test results. Looks like our second Christmas will be delayed.
Separately, and in another part of the country, my wife’s niece was diagnosed with COVID. She probably contracted it at a gathering of friends to celebrate her birthday in mid-December. Suddenly, those social things we have gradually allowed ourselves to do again are going back on the prohibited list. It makes me glad I am introverted enough I don’t depend on an active social calendar to keep me happy and well adjusted.
I just placed my first “no contact” store pick up order in more than a year. The nice folks at Walmart came out to my truck and put 40 pounds of dog food and 24 cans of cat food in the back. We had originally talked about curbside pickup as a way for my wife to get the dog food without having to lift the giant bag, but considering the rising Omicron numbers, I went out Tuesday to get it.
The entire process went much faster and smoother than it did in 2020. They have used their time to optimize the system. I’m going to visit the general store to buy six weeks of chicken feed and some more dirt for the garden beds. Then I’m going to stay home as much as possible.
Yeah, we’re kicking off another period of self-imposed quarantine. As a result, I’m expecting it to be a rather restful January.
Peak Omicron
The so-called experts predict that Omicron cases will peak in mid-January. I don’t necessarily believe them, because the same “experts” have been wrong about so much when it comes to COVID, but if that is indeed the case, then our quarantine will be much shorter than 2020.
It’s funny to think that I started this blog on March 14, 2020, with a post titled “Our First Day of Self-Imposed Quarantine.” Here we are, about 650 days later, back where we started. I just re-read that entry, and while I corrected a typo, but I didn’t cringe at anything I said. Here’s my favorite bit of it, which is suddenly applicable again:
Back when I was younger, HIV hit, and I remember being told that when you have unprotected sex with someone, it’s like you’re having unprotected sex with everyone they’ve ever slept with. That drove home the point to me.
With COVID-19, that warning has changed: When you shake hands with someone, it’s like shaking hands with everyone they’ve met in the past three weeks.
Cases are growing at a rapid pace. I have no desire to tempt fate. We’re pretty self-contained and self-sufficient, so it looks like we’ll be sticking close to home and trying to avoid getting COVID.
More COVID-19 News
There are cases on more than 70 cruise ships, even though most require vaccinated passengers and negative tests. I expect we’ll see cruises canceled for a while.
One in every five New York City residents who took the COVID test we positive, a very high positive rate. I’d hate to be sitting in a subway car or riding a crowded elevator after work. This translates to one in every fifty residents having COVID. Just more proof that COVID-19 and other infection diseases spread like wildfire in areas with a high population density. Give me the country any day!
This article proves that COVID-19 is NOT a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” and calls the premise “factually ludicrous.” I think many of us have known this for some time.
