Katie Marsh
Every choice counts.
I know everyone is “done with this pandemic”. Really, I am too! After weeks turn into months, it’s wearing us down. We may find ourselves relaxing our COVID precautions. Who hasn’t thought "I won’t get it” or "if I do, it won’t be bad"?
By now we have all slipped up; relaxed our precautions. What I want to emphasize here is the danger of normalizing those slip-ups.
It’s human tendency to conclude a sense of false safety in these situations, when nothing bad happens immediately after we break a rule. For example, after we do slip up and forget our mask, and we don’t fall ill we may start to think, “oh, it’s not that contagious…” and then wear our mask less and less. This rationalization and subsequent behavior change not only is fooling us, it’s putting others and ourselves at risk. It’s prolonging pandemic life, the very thing we want to be done with. Eventually, those slip ups will result in virus spread and pandemic life won’t ever end.
So remember, every choice counts! Every time we wear a mask, every meal we cook at home, every invitation we decline, every trip we postpone, it is making a difference. Just like a diet, when we slip up for a day, it doesn’t mean we should blow the week or give up all together. Dust yourself off, and get back to being vigilant. Together, with each smart choice we make, we will keep ourselves safe and influence those around us to be safe too. Let’s get to zero together.
Be Safe. Be smart. Be helpful.
Katie volunteers with EndCoronavirus.org – an international volunteer coalition that develops and promotes community-based solutions for policy-makers, businesses and individuals. Our guidelines and recommendations are based on research established by scientists from the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI), Harvard, UCLA, MIT and other leading institutions.