Unmasked

At the end of last September, I went for a walk around the University of Washington campus; I blogged a little travelogue about my adventure.  I noted that classes were about to begin, and that the campus -- despite the limitations imposed by the pandemic -- was finally showing slightly more signs of life than it had shown during a long, desultory summer.

Still, dorms were only partially occupied, most classes would be virtually presented, and I remarked on other differences between September 2020 and past Septembers.  I was impressed by the way that almost everyone I saw was wearing a mask, and was observing -- more or less strictly -- some form of social distancing.  

The state was then reporting a 14-day running average of about 200 new cases of Covid-19 per day.  That alone seemed adequate reason to be careful.

Today, there were many more kids on campus.  Not just attending laboratory and other necessarily in-person classes, but essentially whooping it up outside.  The new playing fields behind Hutchinson Hall were filled with impromptu soccer games, other athletic endeavors, and students just sitting around chatting.  Red Square was nowhere near as crowded as usual for January, but there were still plenty of students walking around, dodging skateboarders trying out tricks on the steps and flat surfaces.  Fellow pedestrians suddenly loomed up on shady paths that for nearly a year had been refuges of solitude, pedestrians who now needed to be avoided.

And fewer -- considerably fewer -- than half the persons I saw on campus today were wearing masks.  Some who "wore" masks were using them essentially as chin warmers, freeing their mouths and noses for easier breathing and talking.  

The state's 14-day running average?  It's now 2,892 new cases of Covid-19 per day. 

Despite a 14-fold increase in new cases -- and, as a result, a chance of encountering someone shedding viruses that is 14 times what it was in September -- many in the university crowd seemed convinced that the pandemic was over.  That maybe the end of the Trump era also meant the end of Mr. Covid-19 as well.  

Or maybe it's just hard to ask us Americans -- especially young Americans -- to have an attention span that exceeds more than a month or two.  "Oh, I'm so tired of thinking about pandemics.  It was kind of fun for a while, but I am so BORED.  Let's go get a beer." 

Not reassuring. It makes me feel even more nervous each day as I step out the door to take my supposedly health-guaranteeing walk.  A walk through -- I now imagine -- an increasingly dense cloud of viruses!

I'll certainly sign up for a vaccination as soon as it's available.  Those students seemed like nice kids -- I hope they do, too.