“I’m afraid that as the world opens back up and others feel
safer to explore it that I will be left alone.”
I sent this text last week to my “apocalypse buddy”, the
person I’ve had the most continued close contact with through #covidtimes.
“I think now is the time to fully embrace yourself and think
of that experience as positive not negative. No, you won’t be left all alone
but yes you might be more distant than normal for a bit. It too shall pass
though. Your timeline is just a little different than others,” he responded.
But should it be?
From an equity lens, shouldn’t we reopen our doors during
this pandemic in a way in which we can all go out safely?
I am a person with a chronic illness, and the medication I
take to keep from going blind suppresses my entire immune system. I am also a public
health leader, and someone who has struggled with anxiety and depression my
entire life as well. These are the lived experiences that inform my words
today.
Last week, my apocalypse buddy was invited to play
volleyball. When I told my therapist, she gasped. She, who usually reserves
emotions for me, reacted so strongly I had to laugh through my tears. I likened
it to being in an intimate relationship with someone and being casually told he
was headed to an orgy. She said that was the perfect analogy, what with all the
aspirating and sweating he would do playing ball with five others. She suggested
I tell him how I felt and give him that understanding instead of feeling
unconsciously abandoned. So I sent the text, and he made his choice.
We all must take risks during this time.
Some must take many more than others—our essential service
providers and medical providers; folks in public or overcrowded housing, with
no housing, or with prison bars around them; public transportation riders;
those who need special care; the ones who teach our youngest children. We
shouldn’t take the privilege to physically distance for granted. It is not an
imposition on our freedoms, but rather a reflection of them.
For older adults, those of us with chronic illnesses, and
other groups, each of the risks we take is much greater, as we are more likely
to experience severe illness if we contract COVID-19. This includes over half
of adults in North Carolina, as 51.1% are 65 and above, have a chronic illness,
or both.[1]
Among people of all ages who have died from COVID-19 in NC, 74% have a
confirmed underlying condition, like me.
There are many more risks we could take, but we have a
choice not to. It is these choices I am writing of today.
Many of us are struggling and feeling the need to return to
the activities and people that keep us resilient. Do
this. However, take care of yourself and others by thinking about each activity
with intention. Ask, “is this worth the risks? How might I lower them?” Ride
your bike in the park but don’t play volleyball yet or play only with your
#quaranteam. Continue to wear coverings, wash your hands, and keep your
distance.[2]
I am not saying don’t do anything, only urging you to things
differently than before-- safely and slowly with extra thought in the coming
months.
Since we haven’t seen the most tragic and traumatic effects
of COVID here, it can feel easier to return to a sense of safety and normalcy as
the world reopens. Still, we must remember the lessons we have learned during
these challenging months and hold onto the heightened awareness of just how
interconnected we all are.
Please continue to stay safe. Connect with each other in
ways that don’t sacrifice our health for discomfort, our collective wellbeing
for our individual desires. Let’s be conscientious
as the boundaries between us dissolve again.
Let’s continue to take only worthwhile risks and as safely
as we can. If not for yourself, then for those who have less choice and more to
lose.
[1] Data is from the NC State Center for
Health Statistics Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System and cited here: https://files.nc.gov/ncdhhs/documents/files/covid-19/Risk-Factors-for-Severe-Illness-from-COVID-19.pdf
Research also shows that people of color are at increased risk of serious
illness and death from COVID-19 but is not reflected in this data source.
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