Did COVID-19 Teach Us Nothing?
I needed a break from life. Between planning a wedding and gearing up to start work on a PhD, my fiancée and I have been stressed. So at the beginning of May, I thought it was finally time to use the Las Vegas tickets we purchased last June when the pandemic was raging and prices were dirt cheap. We’ve heard of how crowded Las Vegas has been but told ourselves that it was no big deal since we were fully vaccinated. But after spending the last week in Vegas, it dawned on me. We have learned absolutely nothing from the COVID-19 virus.
Arriving at McCarran International Airport it quickly became painfully obvious that COVID-19 was no longer the perceived threat it was last year. Walking off the plane we were met by masses of people drinking, gambling and making up for all of the time they had lost during the lockdown. All without a sliver of a mask on their face.
Like many states, Nevada has thrown away indoor mask mandates for people who have been vaccinated. Vaccination cards aren’t required to go without a mask, instead, everyone is expected to use the honor system. And while I'm sure that’ll keep the court systems free of a clusterfuck worth of lawsuits, we can’t seriously believe that everyone without a mask is actually vaccinated.
Everywhere I looked, people were celebrating their newly found freedoms. Even I’ll admit that walking in the Vegas heat without a mask felt great. Yet while standing in line at a pool bar I felt extremely uncomfortable being surrounded by a group of drunken patrons breathing heavily down my back. At one point I could literally feel the hot breath of another woman on the side of my cheek while attempting to order an overpriced drink.
On every TV in our hotel, we saw the GOP dancing in the Capitol building, waiving their masks in the air with news of the CDC’s updated mask guidance. And although it was refreshing to know we’ve come so far in the fight against the virus, it’s alarming to see how we can still be so stupid.
Hundreds of thousands of people are dead because of this virus. The world economy crashed and at certain points last year it felt as if the entire world was ending. But here we are, a year later walking around like 2020 never happened. Waiting to spread the coronavirus to any unsuspecting person who was unlucky enough to cross their path.
Why is it that the deaths of hundreds of thousands still haven't taught us that the pre-pandemic way of living should be long gone? The answer is pretty simple actually. Our leaders in Washington have collectively decided that since COVID-19 is coming to an end we’re somehow immune to all future viruses. So we can throw out the new normal that was pushed on us for months and revert back to pre-pandemic normals. I guess politicians believe that we’ll never face another COVID-19.
I’m not saying we should constantly be wearing masks and living in quarantine. That’s just not possible. What I am saying is that society and the politicians that lead them need to understand that COVID-19 is not gone. It won’t be gone until we reach herd immunity, which isn’t possible by lifting mask mandates and using the damn honor system.
Last year tested us all. We went from living carefree to locking ourselves in our homes and constantly washing our hands. Months were spent binge-watching TV shows and obsessing over the November elections simply because we were bored. And even though it may feel like we have COVID-19 beat, we can’t let up on it. The virus is still very much alive and it’s only a matter of time before either a new more deadly strain pops up or an entirely new virus threatens us.
We can either choose to learn from COVID-19 and be prepared for the next virus or stay docile, waiting for the next virus to kill hundreds of thousands more. The choice seems pretty obvious to me.
