Outside of political slogans it’s hard to find a more hated phrase than “The New Normal”. Not only has it been profoundly overused, but people who didn’t (and still don’t) understand anything about medical science used it as an insult against all COVID related measures.
Thankfully, things have gotten a lot better since late 2020. COVID hasn’t gone away, but the new variants are a fraction as dangerous as the first ones we saw. Live music is back. Family reunions are back. Things look a lot more like they used to, for better or for worse.
Bu there’s one area where things are very much not like they were in 2019 This weekend my husband and I got have been struggling mightily with respiratory infections. He sounds more like bronchitis, I feel more like a sinus infection. But we are both coughing and our taste buds are a little “off”. So yes, we have both taken more than one COVID tests and they are all negative. Hubby looked at me right after we’d gotten done swabbing our snot-filled noses and asked “Is this the new normal? Every time you have a cold you have to take a COVID test?” And I answered “Yes it is for now. I don’t know how long.”
Now if you are a smart person, or at least one who cares about their fellow man, you are pleased to hear that we are making sure we aren’t transmitting COVID. We both work with immunocompromised people. If you’re screaming right now that this is government overreach, or mass paranoia, or something involving a pizza place in Connecticut, you’re an idiot, or at very least very selfish.
So no, I don’t love shoving Qtips up my nose. I don’t love having to tell my boss, HR, and everyone else I tested negative every time I have a sniffle. But I get it. This IS a new world. There is no going back to the world of 2019 no matter how hard you try. This IS the new normal and we need to embrase it.