Entering Stage 2

June 28, 2020

Hair salons, restaurant patios, malls, and libraries are now open, among a number of other businesses. I am excited, but apprehensive.

The number of new daily COVID cases in Ontario has dropped below 200, and Toronto just entered Stage 2 of re-opening this week. Just days before Ontario closed all"non-essential services" in the later part of March, we had the same number of new daily COVID cases, so I am a bit confused and uncertain about the wisdom of opening back up.

New daily COVID cases in Ontario

Obviously there are many factors at play, including the health of Ontarians, the capacity of our hospitals, and stimulating the economy. And the decisions about re-opening appear to be based upon the advice of experts in health, infectious disease, and epidemiology.

Although I'm really excited to be able to have drinks on a patio, I'm also holding my breath.

I expressed my concerns to a friend who lives in another country, who has been able to eat inside at restaurants for over a month. She said that she had the same concerns and wondered how the number of COVID cases in her country wasn't skyrocketing, again. However, she made a good point. Even though things have opened up, she said her level of physical contact with others is still significantly reduced from her pre-COVID life. So I'm hoping that in Ontario, as we are entering Stage 2, we are also able to maintain enough distance to continue to keep numbers low.

It feels like everyday I have a ton of decisions to make, which are based on my level of risk tolerance (and the risk tolerance of those I'm bubbling with). Here are some of the previously typical activities I wouldn't have put much thought into that now require careful consideration...

• A few days ago, I really wanted a caramel frappucino. I hadn't been to Starbucks since before the pandemic. So, with my mask in hand, I made my way over to the nearest Starbucks. However, when I got there, to me it felt like there were too many people lined up, some without masks, and I got anxious. It didn't seem to be worth the risk just for a cold drink...yet on the other hand, I've been going grocery shopping on a weekly basis throughout the whole pandemic.
  

• My dentist appointment in late April was cancelled. In early June, at the beginning of Stage 1, I got an email from my dentist's office telling me that I could now reschedule my appointment. It's been almost a month since they told me that, and I've been putting it off...it seemed like an unnecessary risk. Yet, who knows when there could be a second wave? And my health insurance runs out at the end of August. So is it worth the risk for me, now?
  

• I'm beginning a new job in the fall and I need to take head shots for the organization's website. However, I'm currently bubbled with my parents and they requested that I wait until post-bubbling to get the shots taken. So I've scheduled the head shots for right when we have planned to stop bubbling, and I will be isolating for 2-weeks in between bubbles. It seems as though I am willing to put myself at whatever additional risk getting head shots may be, but I'm not going to put my parents at risk.
  

• On the other hand, my partner and I have recently started house-hunting, and we're willing to spend time in houses with our real-estate agent (all of us gloved and masked), and our parents have even joined us for one house visit.

So many of these decisions are made based on an emotional-responses and other priorities, rather than true risk assessment. At present, I am saying that there is NO WAY I'll be going into malls or getting my hair cut at a salon. Because, right now, those things are not top priorities. But if those businesses continue to stay open, as I get closer to starting my new job, will I deem those services more important? Will I deem in a priority to purchase work appropriate attire and get a proper haircut (my first at-home cut did not go so well)?

Previously one of our contributor's wrote a post In Praise of Less Choice. At the time, I couldn't say that I was more content with having less options to choose from. But now, in a way, it feels like there are more decisions to make than pre-pandemic. I'm looking forward to one day getting back to my old routines, but I do not think that I feel ready to brave all the businesses that have opened just yet.

- Roo