Over the last several weeks, I’ve felt slightly uneasy breaking the habit of strict social distancing and mask wearing to avoid infection. It was a justified queasiness.

Following Christmas gatherings and indoor sporting events all over the country, an increase in viral spread was predictable and apparently is happening in our area.

I’ll be donning a mask again when in crowded indoor spaces, including sporting events, small meetings in small rooms, and anywhere its likely we’re all breathing each other’s exhalations.

That’s not the advice given to everyone, but it is for people like me. Both my wife and I have several reasons to worry a little more than most Americans about a breakthrough infection of Covid. We’ve both taken every vaccine offered with little side effect. But new variants coming on apparently don’t find those as much of a deterrent as did the versions of the SARS-CoV2 virus that turned life upside down in 2020. So public health experts recommend we still mask up.

Add to that the fact that influenza is rampant due to our reduced practice at fighting it (because masks and social distancing work) and its two-year hiatus, I’d also like to avoid spreading that around, causing misery to others.

I agree it’s necessary for the country to remain as opened up as possible. Finding the right balance between public health cautions and economic needs will likely take years and be a continual process.

As some historian observed about past pandemics, they’re really only over when we just forget about them, not because they ever actually go away completely. Getting to the point where society is so immune that we can all forget about it completely hasn’t quite happened yet, but we seem to be getting the hang of it.

Have a happy New Year.

Scott Hunter

editor and publisher