Do What’s Right, Not What’s Comfortable

Last week, Tuesday Tutor talked about the rising numbers of the predicted and feared arrival of the Tri-demic or Triple-demic of influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus and COVID-19. All three serious respiratory diseases were rising at the same time across the U.S.

For those watching news from the San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Clara County reached an unwanted milestone by slipping back became into the “high” tier for COVID-19 infections. If you remember the tiered-response protocols, for “high,” the CDC recommends people wear a high-quality mask or respirator in public spaces and counsels people at high-risk to consider avoiding nonessential indoor public activities.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said little recently about mask orders or its long-established recommendations, despite close to 300 U.S. counties—numbering more than 1 in 8 Americans—meeting the definition of the CDC’s high risk category.

“[O]ne need not wait for CDC action in order to put a mask on,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. She’s right. You don’t need the CDC to tell you, but a lot of people won’t until they do. Even then people will want to deny that there’s a problem.

This week, some members of Congress threatened to derail an $858 billion spending bill unless the requirement that members of the military be vaccinated against coronavirus be lifted. Apparently they’ve forgotten how COVID-19 outbreaks early in the pandemic left some military units, including at least one of our aircraft carriers, unable to function.

Meanwhile, back in California, we’re reminded that simple actions can result in benefits or consequences.

“We have observed worsening increases in COVID-19 case reports and hospitalizations since October,” according to a statement from Dr. Nicholas Moss, the Alameda County health officer. “Taking actions like masking … can prevent spreading illnesses like COVID-19, flu, and RSV and help protect our health care system from strain.”

Keeping hospitals from being overwhelmed by a combination of flu, RSV and COVID-19 infections seems like a pretty smart goal—especially if you remember hospitals rationing care, deciding who got ventilators and who didn’t, and stacking corpses in refrigerated trucks.

Because of the added threats from flu and RSV, Attend Safe added available testing for those respiratory diseases to our COVID-19 test protocols.

In the end, it’s important to do what’s right, not just what’s comfortable.

Amanda Schleede is founder and CEO of Attend Safe, which helps people attend to life with safe, secure and sensible protocols. Her leadership allows important events to proceed with safety-conscious protections. With Tuesday Tutor, she hopes others will benefit from her experience. Visit Attend Safe online at AttendSafe.com.