Uncertainty is the New Normal
By Melissa Menny
Imagine seeing your one-year-old toddler attempting to fit a mask on his face while playing simply because he sees his parents wearing one every day. Our son is so accustomed to us wearing them that he pulls them down just a little bit to give us a kiss when we are out and puts them back in place. He is not even in the suggested age range to wear them, but sure enough, he is adjusting to a life he has seen since he was a newborn. This makes me wonder; is pandemic life our new normal?
Zoom weddings, designer masks, drive-by social events, and the rise in life insurance purchases are just a few pandemic life adjustments made by Americans. With no clear end in sight and no time to fully grieve the massive amounts of loss, people are fighting for some form of normalcy in all of the chaos. Uncertainty is the new normal and making the best of it is the challenge. Trying to figure out how to live in our heightened paranoia is difficult, but here we are.
We saw some small glimmer of hope from April until June when cases decreased dramatically for the first time. The hospitals were not overcrowded and some restrictions were lifted in public spaces. Now with the surge in the Delta variant, many hospitals are filled to capacity and the number of child cases has increased rapidly. A little more than 186,000 new cases have been reported. There have specifically been 93,824 new child cases reported between the end of July and the beginning of this month. The number has continued to climb leaving parents like myself in a panic especially regarding little information available about the new strain’s effects.
Another year into the pandemic and it seems we are being forced to adjust to the yo-yo of things being okay one second and not so okay the next. I have never felt such paranoia in my life as I have in the past year-plus. With a 20-month-old, another child on the way, and an educator for a husband, relaxing just a little bit seems like a thing of 2019. The constant need to be vigilant has been a bit exhausting. We are still heavily sanitizing our purchases, carrying sanitizer in all forms, wearing masks, and keeping a safe distance when possible. We don’t even approach allergies or the common cold the same as before. Our first thought is fear that it is COVID-19 or Delta. With every store visit, every walk in the park, and any activity that involves being near people, we are cautious and counting our blessings. The idea of overcoming the pandemic seems far away. The impact of the Delta variant has been swift and highly contagious. Recent Centers for Disease Control reports have shown that 97 percent of those hospitalized with the strain were unvaccinated. The results for those individuals have varied. Low vaccination rates in certain counties are seeing a higher rise in the variant.
About 57 percent of the American population has received one dose of the vaccine and 49 percent is fully vaccinated. Over 37 million people have contracted the virus and over 620,000 have died from it. Still, we are seeing so many people attend concerts, swarm movie theaters, and travel to places that are not faring well with the virus. Some people are more cautious than others, but nonetheless, people are choosing to minimize concerns about the virus for the sake of thrills. Even if that means wearing a mask or showing vaccination cards to partake in them, people are doing just that.
Also, school is in session for many kids who are attending in person and many without mask mandates. Note that many are not old enough to receive the vaccine and as a result are left vulnerable. The forced normalcy of trying to live in a pandemic has spilled over into spaces that put many at risk, including administrators, teachers, and parents. The idea of a child taking the virus home to someone unable to beat the virus is scary. What has become of consumerism and our choices make it appear that many have become desensitized to the possibility of the worst-case scenario. That is a scary normal to accept.
I am looking at my next doctor’s appointment without my husband and son attending. The rise in cases and fatalities means the restrictions for plus-ones are back in place. This of course does not make me feel hopeful for the pending birth of our baby. Giving birth is already scary enough, but the idea that I will have to go it alone is even scarier to me. It is no secret that statistically Black women have a higher mortality rate following giving birth. Our first birth was very worrisome because it was an emergency Caesarean section and the nurses initially debated having my husband present. Luckily he was called in just before the birth of our son. His presence for me means having someone there to further advocate for me if I need it. The idea that he may not be able to do that adds an additional layer of stress to an already stressful situation. We do not know what the statistics will look like in a few months, but we can only hope we see another glimmer of hope where cases are down and vaccinations are up.
Melissa Menny is an author with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. She is a poet and a writer in all aspects. When she is not working, she enjoys painting, music, and spending time with her husband and son. This originally appeared on the COVID-19 Observer.
Featured photo credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/gF6HdRlyJ5o
