Reflecting on our forever pandemic

Everyone agrees that all of us are tired of the coronavirus pandemic, now in its third year. Fortunately, the omicron variant has waned, case numbers are down and hospitalizations are following that pattern of decline.

Pattern. Waning. Alas, the coronavirus, like the moon, shrinks before, in predictable fashion, it grows into its full phase again. Until the moon is blasted out of the night sky, it will cycle through its changes monthly, like clockwork.

In Washington and Skagit County the total reductions and dramatic fall in the case rate are causes for cheer. The seven day case rate is slightly below 100, at 98.1 per 100,000 residents and the hospitalization rate is below 15, at 14.6 new patients per 100,000 residents, through March 6. That is down from late February's rate of 20. Sadly, deaths from the coronavirus continue to aggregate, with 12 the first 17 days of February. There were only 15 in all of January. Deaths are ticking all too predictably higher. That is the case in Skagit County this year.

But like everything else with the pandemic, people are worn out on data, tables, graphs, projections and predictions.

So now masks, and their mandates, are dropping in the bluest of states, on March 12 in Washington. Ending restrictions follows dramatic reductions in new cases and slowing hospitalizations. The changes in Skagit County are as large as anywhere in the state.

In our local communities, it may seem that humans have no more control over any virus then they have over the moon. Citizens – residents of a country, sharing their communities, as a more or less organic society – cannot control each other. But we can control ourselves and can choose to bond together in common cause. That is why we have government. That is why we form – and follow – health departments and their guidelines. Or we do not.

That is why the federal and state governments have thrown bucketloads of money at pharmaceutical companies and championed scientific research. Individuals do have measures of control. We experienced that as we started the spring of 2020 with “Stay Home – Stay Healthy,” Gov. Jay Inslee’s emergency locking down of the state.

People exercised control by wearing masks and social distancing in the two years since then. The long lines around the corner outside drug stores in the winter of 2021 as people waited for their vaccinations proved people’s instincts for protection and to save their physical, mental and emotional health.

The commitment our most local of governments made to protect their constituencies, the students and staff of the La Conner School District and the staff and residents by the Town of La Conner, proved that citizens at the most basic level of organization can work in unison.

In ways small and large, each of us has been a participant in a tragedy that has changed the world and likely has changed most of us. It is cliche that the past two years have been like no others in our lifetime, somewhere between a struggle and a nightmare and, for too many, the ultimate tragedy: death.

Pause and reflect. Change is the nature of life. Looking back, looking forward, what changes have you experienced? What has changed in your life and the life of your loved ones? How have you changed? What have the last two years been like and what is the impact of COVID-19 on you and those around you?

Share your reflections with the community in the March 23 Weekly News. Whether it is a sentence, a paragraph, or 200-to-300 words, reflections on everything from pain to hope will be printed to capture this unique time in our lives. With enough responses, the March 30 issue will continue your story. Share through [email protected].