141. Endemic

I’ve come to watch the Covid reports from the Oregon Health Authority like some watch the stock market. My moods, and not my wealth, rise and fall with the days’ accountings. And lately the ups and downs have moved like a yoyo. Last week Wallowa County had its first “zero day” in weeks, maybe months. I was hopeful that the end of the tourist season and the gradual increase in locals vaccinated—and the mounting numbers of those who had contracted the disease and thereby acquired at least some immunity—made for good winter prospects in the county.

 

This week it looks like I bought the wrong stock, put money on the wrong horse. Numbers bounced like a yoyo until we hit 9 again yesterday. Biggest number of new cases in a couple of weeks, with daily numbers bouncing from zero up over that recent hopeful time—was it just a week ago that I wrote about the good prospects for winter?

 

Well, tourist season has been replaced by hunting seasons, and we still have many stores, storekeepers and customers who don’t want to wear masks. And we now know that vaccinations do not protect completely—two friends from nearby Umatilla County, completely vaccinated, had recent bouts with the virus. Happy to say they are both healthy and full-functioning now.

 

So it occurs to me that this is what “endemic” looks like. Covid infections rise and fall. More are vaccinated, but some of the vaccinated get at a little sick; some small percentage get more than a little sick, emboldening those fighting against masks and mandates. And t she vaccinated who do get even mildly sick pass on the malady to the unvaccinated child, and….

 

And up and down we go. Hoping that a new variant is not more potent than the one we are dealing with today. Those of us in the “older” category jumping to get our boosters; many of us still wearing our masks—though we often let them droop below the nose.

 

A friend who has visited China many times says that masks are routine—due mostly to air pollution. Looks to me like I’ll be packing my mask for months to come, maybe forever. And getting boosters, and watching the OHA numbers bounce, hearing now and then about someone I know who has died. Endemic. New Normal…

 

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