Having come through the winter surge alive, most of us are breathing much easier based on March numbers, but remember that back in the summer, those same numbers were considered very bad, and the rules about masks and distance and indoor gatherings were considered necessary. We're on the down track of the coaster right now, and that's good, but we're still stuck on a hill, and the rescue ladder still isn't tall enough to reach to get us down.
So, *I'm* not scared, but I can see why she would be. If there is a significant uptick in cases it will be her job to fix it, and anticipating that you might have to personally deal with thousands and thousands of people unnecessarily dying on your watch is a scary prospect for most healthcare professionals. It doesn't mean that she won't rise to the occasion, and I have no problem with a health professional actually saying what she is thinking. I have a lot of friends and family who work on the front lines, and the stress that happens every time they lose a patient is cumulative. She was in charge of the response at Massachusetts General during the winter, so she was right in the thick of the storm. She probably sees those numbers and does math in her head that figures out what that means in man-hours, or even body bags. Remember that in real terms, those astronomical odds like one-hundredth of one percent still represent a potential loss of nearly 33,000 warm bodies in this country.
Several countries in Europe have had to lock down again as hospitals are once again overwhelmed, and I think that for front-line infectous disease workers, that's one heck of a dark cloud to see coming over the horizon. Granted, she didn't phrase it very elegantly, but I'm sure that what she meant about being scared was a reflection of worries about the resiliency of the health care system. It has been bent an awful lot lately, and she's worried it could finally break. If you look at news reports from medical facilities elsewhere in the world, there are several places where health care systems that are more robust than our own are showing clear signs of impending collapse.
I personally am remaining cautious for now, same as I mostly have been. Mask still on and still no eating indoors, probably for at least another 2 months; it won't hurt me, and there is a chance it might help someone else, so why not? DH will be vaccinated next week, but my DS23 probably won't be for a while. He doesn't live with us now, but he lives in a hot spot, and he's not changing any of his habits for now, even though his state government has abandoned all controls. He says that most businesses around him are voluntarily sticking with caution, too, just in case the CDC Director actually might be onto something.
