Allison Hanes: There is no COVID vacation; ask me how i know

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I usually come back from vacation with adventure stories, lots of family photos, and a few memories.

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This year I return with a warning.

No, I did not survive the chaos that took over the Montreal airport or the ridiculous queues to renew a passport. I was swept up in the seventh wave of the pandemic.

Of course, it was not yet a seventh wave when the problems began; that pronouncement did not come until I was already recovering. But he snuck up on me, rearing his ugly head when she least expected it.

Like everyone else, my family was busy wrapping up another school year and looking forward to the pleasures of a typical summer, including a cabin getaway. We were much more social than we have been in years during the month of June, creating many cherished memories and marking important milestones.

With the vast majority of public health restrictions lifted, COVID-19 was the furthest thing from our minds. Based on last year’s trajectory, there was a reasonable expectation that new cases would decline as temperatures rose. The rules were relaxed. Our guard is down. Maybe I even turned off the warnings. And that’s how it caught up with us, when we resumed a normal existence.

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Maybe it was finally our turn. I had been surprised that the virus had not penetrated our defenses earlier. Yes, we had been taking precautions, but so have many family members, friends, colleagues, and classmates who have been infected in previous waves. We always somehow come out unscathed.

Perhaps I became arrogant as a result. Maybe I was careless.

This time, COVID-19 stowed away on what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. What I can only assume is that one of the most contagious new strains brought us down like dominoes.

There are worse places to isolate than the cabin, where there’s plenty of fresh air, room to spread out, and family members in various states of recovery to care for one another. We didn’t miss out on summer camp, get turned away from a cruise ship, or end up stranded in a foreign country.

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If I am grateful for one thing, it is vaccination. I shudder to contemplate how we could have suffered without two, three or four doses of immune stimulation depending on our ages and eligibility. I was asymptomatic. Others had the telltale signs of a nasty cold. Still, the havoc has been harder for some to shake off. The guilt of exposing COVID-19 to more vulnerable family members weighs heavily.

Was this inevitable or did I fall into the trap of wishful thinking or denial?

Nobody wants to hear about the pandemic anymore. Frankly, I’m sick of writing about it. Getting rid of mandatory face coverings, vaccine passports, and capacity limits was liberating. Even those of us (me) happy to abide by the above measures or skeptical about the wisdom of their removal have enjoyed the freedom to go nude under ordinary circumstances. Now I can attest that there may be consequences.

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Returning to lockdown is not an option, political, economic and especially social. butWe have been left to manage our own risk when there is very little guidance to cling to and much room for interpretation.

All the rules have changed. Instead of a whole family having to quarantine for 14 days like in the beginning, now it’s five days, then five more days of “prudence,” such as wearing a mask. Only the infected person has to isolate. Everyone else just needs to be careful and monitor for symptoms. These nuances may make compliance less onerous, but they defy common sense.

How does precaution work when masks or vaccine passports are no longer required in schools, restaurants, sports facilities or on public transport? Once a sign of solidarity, if you see someone wearing a mask at the grocery store these days, it’s probably a warning of recent illness or an indication of vulnerability.

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Is this what public health authorities mean by learning to live with the virus: catching it and (hopefully) getting over it? Is COVID-19 a simple fact of life now? Are we all destined to be infected sooner or later, maybe even reinfected? If so, how concerned should we be?

Now that I have crossed the Rubicon, I can say that resuming normal life is not without risk. Even there is no going back after crawling out from under the rock of the siege mentality.

Let this be more of a reminder than a warning: the pandemic is not over. COVID-19 is still ready to ruin the best laid plans. Protect yourselves accordingly.

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