Adapting to COVID normal
First, my apologies for the silence since early June. I have been adapting to COVID normal – the phrase I will use, instead of “new normal”. And I admit that my experience in June and July caught me off guard. Yes, we were all caught off guard mid-March when we went into lockdown, to lead an extremely different life. But in hindsight, I found simplicity in lockdown and quarantine – everything got really quiet and really slow.
I have found it complex to live through reopening and to explore what COVID normal means. It’s tiring to be on alert all the time. Also, much of life feels unsettling right now, and the best I can do is acknowledge that this is a normal human response, and to allow myself and others grace for that.
Photo from Piqsels is in the Public Domain.
In contrast to lockdown, I have found it complex to live through reopening and to explore what COVID normal means: to resume some familiar activities while preventing transmission of this virus that will be with us for months, maybe years to come. In my experience, life amid relaunch has demanded time and energy. I thought I was well-equipped, since I am trained to work safely with virus samples in a research lab setting, but I soon discovered that the scope is much greater when the infection source is potentially everywhere (instead of just a small test tube), and we don’t live in a controlled environment like a lab. It’s tiring to be on alert all the time.
I have had to acknowledge that much of life feels unsettling right now. We live in a constant state of uncertainty. It is difficult to make long-term plans when we have no idea what case numbers or public health advisories will look like in two weeks, in a month, in half a year. Also, I always live with the uncertainty of whether my cautious actions are enough to keep me and others around me safe. I still have no solution to the uneasy feeling, and I don’t think there is a ready solution, because the life that we live now is not natural to us. Even so, I have found some peace in acknowledging that it’s a normal human response to feel unsettled in these strange times, that I’m not the only one feeling this way, and by allowing myself and others the grace to say it sometimes affects our words and actions.
Together, the time and effort to adjust my lifestyle, and the chronic feeling of unease have created a temporary struggle to make time for my blog and newsletter. The good news is that I feel like I am adapting, and I have active plans to resume these resources on a regular basis.
Before I took my unintended break, I received feedback indicating that readers want to know how to live safely with COVID-19. I regret that I did not respond to this request in a timely manner, but I will take the opportunity to share what I have been putting to practice, and what I have been refining through experience, as well as through updated public health recommendations.
“For the sake of our families and communities, we all need to act each day as though everyone we spend time with could have the virus, even if we’re among friends, and even if we feel perfectly healthy.” - Dr. Deena Hinshaw
Sadly, I don’t have any radically new information to share. We have similar tools as we had at the start of the pandemic:
Know and honour the level of risk you are willing to accept – only you can define that. You can find out your estimated health risk with Alberta’s new COVID-19 personal risk assessment tool, but you decide what that means for you. If you really can’t afford to get sick, really limit your face-to-face interactions, and find alternate ways to communicate and to connect emotionally. The surest way to avoid infection is to avoid other people… but that creates other risks associated with isolation, impacting our elders, the young, and everyone in between. If you can tolerate some risk, it’s valuable to get out and to interact with others, but it’s still important to limit the risk of virus transmission for the sake of our community’s more vulnerable individuals. Don’t go out as often as you might have pre-COVID-19 to limit the number of close interactions you have; when you do go out, take additional precautions.
Keep your physical distance. The irony of the current situation is that while stress naturally draws people together, the greatest form of care is to create physical distance, because you always have to assume others could infect you, and you could infect them – Dr. Hinshaw has expressed this too. When you are interacting with others, stand at least 2 metres apart. If that’s not possible – or guaranteed – wear a mask. You can also greatly lower the risk of transmission by meeting outdoors or in other well-ventilated spaces; if you must meet indoors, limit the length of the interaction – the more time spent, the greater the risk. It’s also a good idea to keep of log of your interactions with people from outside your household, in case you need to be involved in contact tracing.
Wash or sanitize your hands. Often! By way of example, there are times that I sanitize my hands at least five times in ten minutes, such as if I’m touching public surfaces, then touching my own belongings. Cleanse your hands every time your hands go near your face; after you put your hands on a high-touch surface in a public setting; as soon as you come home; and all the times that we were encouraged to wash our hands even before COVID – before eating; after toileting; after sneezing, coughing, or blowing your nose.
I know it’s easy to list our tools, but it’s a lot to think about when you put it in practice! For this reason, in each of the next three weeks I will share a short “how-to” document to help you manage COVID-19 risks in these different real-life situations: wearing a mask safely; hosting a guest; and taking public transit. Subscribers will receive a weekly email in the coming month; alternatively, you can check back to this article to find links to that information.
If you have any other scenarios that you would like help with, you can find guidance by reaching out. If you are feeling uneasy living in this COVID time, you can find an understanding and supportive ear. Call or email us at Navigate Your Health to speak to a trusted health navigator and advocate, to explore and to understand your options to create your best COVID normal.