I isolate because it's the safest way to live in terms of avoiding Covid.
It works just fine for me: everything I need can be ordered/delivered to my front door/mailbox.
I live alone (with my cat so, far from alone... but I digress) and am not immunocompromised or otherwise ill.
In fact, the opposite is true: I won the Richmond Half-Marathon in 2018 in a time of 1:55 [sub-9-minutes/mile] (Men 70-75); finished 3rd in 2019 in 1:57; and am determined to win this year's race (Men 75-80; I turn 75 on June 8 and the race is on November 11, 2023).
People I know keep getting Covid; some 525 people/day in the U.S. die of Covid; long Covid basically destroys lives and is doing so to millions of Americans.
It's as if by declaring an emergency over, by some magical spell it becomes true to many; not to me.
I already know EXACTLY how long I will continue to live this way and have told this to my family (daughter/son-in-law/6-year-old grandson who live in Pittsburgh, whom I last saw in person in November 2019).
When the U.S. death rate from Covid equals that from car crashes (45,000 in 2022; 120 people/day), that is when I will toss my 3M N95 masks in the trash and live like everyone else.
What with the current figure of 525 deaths/day — up from around 300, the lowest it's ever been, in October 2022, since when it's risen steadily — I project around 2027-2030.
Interesting approach. Why choose a metric such as car crashes instead of something like the flu? Although I think they are both likely in the same ballpark.
I'm glad to see you are still active despite being isolated.
You are obviously a smart person and likely more familiar with the medical aspects of this than me due to your background. Do you feel at all that you are staying this path due to the initial justified fear of the disease and now it's simply a part of your mindset or do you think you are able to frequently reassess your isolation from a new unbiased point of view? Again this is not an attack, you are obviously making many sacrifices to live this way and sometimes it's hard to take a step back and see the whole picture. Pros vs cons.
Were you an introvert before (as that may have eased the transition)?
What are your thoughts on those that no longer isolate, especially people with kids?
Feel free to ignore some or all of my questions:)
Again, no judgement, just interested in the mindset and perspective of those that have made this decision.
If I use that metric I'm never ever gonna feel safe from Covid! Best I stick to car crashes, no?
No, I don't think for a second I'd continue my lifestyle unless the evidence justified it.
I'm always looking for evidence making it safe to abandon my extreme approach but so far I haven't found it.
The thing is, I don't feel like I'm making any sacrifices to live how I'm living — with the exception of not seeing my family in person (FaceTime isn't a substitute).
You called it: I'm basically an introvert, happiest sitting quietly with my cat on my lap reading.
This has always been the case my entire life, for many decades before Covid.
I'm totally fine with others who don't isolate, whether or not they have kids.
I find no fault with anyone's approach/behavior, but I must say every time I see a picture of an crowded airport, as happened with the Southwest Airlines debacle, I marvel at the way almost all people don't give any thought to Covid.
I appreciate your answers.
I admit to being one of those that really doesn't give much thought to COVID but I think it's due to having school age kids. During the year long initial isolation phase my kids didn't do well so now they are in school and back to normal. With that said they are surrounded by kids coughing and sneezing on each other all day so I see it as an inevitably so don't worry about it. We all got COVID about 8 months ago and thankfully all recovered pretty quickly. Symptoms were equivalent to the flu but I know these vary from person to person.
All the best and I hope we hit your metric sooner than later. Good luck at your race!
I isolate because it's the safest way to live in terms of avoiding Covid.
It works just fine for me: everything I need can be ordered/delivered to my front door/mailbox.
I live alone (with my cat so, far from alone... but I digress) and am not immunocompromised or otherwise ill.
In fact, the opposite is true: I won the Richmond Half-Marathon in 2018 in a time of 1:55 [sub-9-minutes/mile] (Men 70-75); finished 3rd in 2019 in 1:57; and am determined to win this year's race (Men 75-80; I turn 75 on June 8 and the race is on November 11, 2023).
People I know keep getting Covid; some 525 people/day in the U.S. die of Covid; long Covid basically destroys lives and is doing so to millions of Americans.
It's as if by declaring an emergency over, by some magical spell it becomes true to many; not to me.
I already know EXACTLY how long I will continue to live this way and have told this to my family (daughter/son-in-law/6-year-old grandson who live in Pittsburgh, whom I last saw in person in November 2019).
When the U.S. death rate from Covid equals that from car crashes (45,000 in 2022; 120 people/day), that is when I will toss my 3M N95 masks in the trash and live like everyone else.
What with the current figure of 525 deaths/day — up from around 300, the lowest it's ever been, in October 2022, since when it's risen steadily — I project around 2027-2030.