Pandemic fatigue

Entrepreneurs must be glad that Omicron has failed to dampen the renewed Christmas spirit this year.

Traffic has been awful since the start of the month: bad for motorists, but a clear sign of economic revival. The traffic jams are still not the Carmageddon of pre-pandemic Christmases past, but the traffic volume was close to it last Saturday, almost everywhere I went in my neck of the woods.

For the first time since the pandemic lockdowns in March last year, we had a family gathering of 11 people last Saturday – our largest ever since COVID-19 entered the country – for my mother’s 86th birthday celebration.

I’m sure we’re not the only family reviving face-to-face meetings these days, even if the crowd size is still tightly limited. Over the weekend, a colleague and his long-time partner finally got married. Another person I know is preparing for the baptism of her first grandchild in January, to coincide with the first birthday celebration because the baptism was put off this entire year due to the COVID threat.

All three – doting grandma, her daughter and baby granddaughter – caught COVID during the Alpha / Beta surge last summer. Grandma and the baby’s mother are now fully vaccinated.

My octogenarian ninong and his wife, also for the first time since the pandemic, dropped by my house last Saturday to bring me a Christmas gift of apples. They are also both fully vaccinated.

Unfortunately, we didn’t see each other because I was at our small family lunch gathering, held in my brother’s well-ventilated home where distancing is possible.

All 11 of us plus household staff are fully vaccinated. But we all still wore masks, except when we sat down for lunch, and there were no hugs, touching and beso-beso even after our long separation. For the candle beside the birthday cake, my mom clapped her hands to snuff it out.

Our Christmas and New Year gatherings will follow the same pandemic protocols.

Health issues dominated the conversation, but the millennials and the lone Gen Z in our midst didn’t seem bored by the topic. A health crisis has altered their lives.

From the get-together, my mom and I proceeded to an outdoor flea market, where there was a sizeable crowd. Driving home the traffic was horrid; it was the Christmas rush in the time of COVID.

The merchants are surely rejoicing, but health experts are worried – not so much about the return of the shopping crowd, but about complacency regarding the threat posed by the coronavirus, especially with the Omicron variant now detected in the country.

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Since last year, the World Health Organization and other health experts have warned about “pandemic fatigue” that weakens adherence to COVID safety protocols.

Pandemic fatigue has been blamed for case spikes even in highly vaccinated countries. Epidemiologists say Omicron is spreading at an unprecedented pace in these countries even among the fully vaccinated partly because mask mandates and other restrictions have been lifted or are being ignored.

In addition to pandemic fatigue, there is discussion these days about “worry burnout.” People are simply tired of worrying and prefer to shut out the reported risks and get on with their lives in the old normal.

Mental health experts say that while this attitude is a coping mechanism against stress that can lead to “radical acceptance” of the new normal of indefinite uncertainty, one has to draw a line between acceptance and complacency.

Psychologists say among the symptoms of worry burnout are “learned helplessness” or feeling numb, hopelessness, avoidance of bad news, constant fatigue, and being more irritable or quick to anger.

Their suggested remedies include getting enough sleep, a balanced diet, regular physical exercise, and a focus on things that you find de-stressing or pleasant in life.

Browsing in an outdoor flea market can be de-stressing. Many visitors had their dogs with them last Saturday at the flea market. There were only a few young children around though; that must have been an Omicron-aware crowd.

In many other commercial areas, however, children of all ages are out. And they are back in the streets, begging even late at night. In crowded public markets, many vendors have dumped not only their face shields but also face masks. They sneeze and cough openly, and smoke and vape even at food stalls.

There ought to be a class suit against the vaping industry for the poison it is spreading, and which lawmakers want to make available to younger consumers. In this election season, politicians are extremely vulnerable to the powerful vaping lobby.

Those toxic e-cigarette vapors that destroy the lungs pose an added health risk to people who have become tired of constantly wearing face masks.

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We’re seeing what Omicron is doing in highly vaccinated countries such as the United Kingdom and United States where masking rules and other pandemic restrictions were lifted.

Health experts have stressed that this shows the importance of continued adherence to COVID safety protocols, even among the fully vaccinated.

Reuters reported a UK study on COVID-positive persons dated Dec. 16 indicating that Omicron is 5.4 times more likely than Delta to cause reinfection, and there is no evidence that it is milder than Delta as initially believed (others say this is still too early to establish).

Over the weekend, seven Omicron deaths were recorded in the UK as cases surged; the Netherlands announced a Christmas lockdown, and Paris canceled New Year’s Eve fireworks as Omicron spread. The WHO reported that cases were doubling every 1.5 to three days in areas with local Omicron transmission.

In contrast, new daily infections in the Philippines yesterday stood at a low 203 cases. But this was partly because 41 laboratories that usually account for 15.4 percent of samples tested and 1.8 percent of positive cases failed to submit data due to Typhoon Odette while four other labs suspended operations.

Even if those 45 laboratories resume submitting data, however, it looks like COVID cases are significantly down and there is no community transmission of Omicron in our country… yet.

That provides a breathing spell that could last through New Year’s Day. So it looks like Christmas 2021 will be merry, or at least much better than Christmas 2020.

Overcome pandemic fatigue. With sustained adherence to COVID safety protocols combined with full vaccination, the renewed get-togethers and holiday celebrations need not lead to renewed suffering in the coming year.