How to safely “relax” your Covid lockdown.

We’re now starting month 6 of our Covid worldwide nightmare. It’s been a long, exhausting, confusing ride so far and I still wake up most mornings in disbelief that we’re experiencing this. And it ain’t over yet! My best estimate is somewhere around another 6 months of pretty much what we have now. I think we’re further along in herd immunity than the numbers show and getting close to a vaccine. The vaccine might make you feel like you have the flu for a day or so……but I think the trials will reveal that it’s not lethal. I’d take a day or two of achiness if it let’s me return to some semblance of normalcy.

What about in the meantime? A good friend of mine recently asked me “How can my wife and I start to have SOME kind of social life again?”. So here are my thoughts on how you CAN start to LIVE again. I don’t think we are ever going back to “normal”…we’re going to a NEW normal…..as much as I’m not crazy about how it looks.

First of all let me say that I’m very proud of the first responders in EVERY part of society that have responded to this unprecedented challenge and go to work on the front lines every day. Thank you! On the other hand I really can’t understand how we were so unprepared for a pandemic. Scientists have literally warned that one was INEVITABLE for decades and it seems “those in power” did little about it. I don’t mean Trump either. He pretty much was left with the essentially non-existent policy that there was for this inevitable scourge. It makes me wonder how poorly prepared we are for a “dirty nuclear bomb”, an attack on satellites, a major hacking of computers worldwide or an electromagnetic pulse. ALL very possible. Hopefully we’ve learned SOMETHING from all of this.

So here’s what I told my friend:

• Know your friends. By this I mean know what THEY are doing during Covid. ASK them “who else are you hanging around with?” “what are you doing at work?” “what do your kids do everyday?” “Are you using masks sensibly?”…….and whatever else you want to know about their behavior.
• Keep your social group SMALL…..maybe 6-8 people….KEEP IT THAT WAY. It will make safety manageable.
• If someone in your group has to travel on a plane or go to an event around a lot of people, keep them out of the group for 10 days……sorry…..we’ve all worked too hard to make it to now.
• If one of your friends has children actually IN SCHOOL, I might wait a bit and see how that works out…..it’s a LOT of exposure that child can bring home to the parent.
• If any of your group feels sick they MUST stay away until they are tested. And they NEED to tell the rest of the group that they don’t feel right.
• Have your group meet socially in safe places. Each other’s homes, on someone’s boat, happy hours by the pool, etc.
• Have dinner parties at home……everyone make something! Great time to learn to cook LOL!
• What about going to a restaurant? You can do it if you find a “safe” restaurant. For instance we are comfortable going to Crazy Uncle Mike’s here in Boca Raton because he opens large “garage doors” …..lots of air……great spacing…….bartenders and servers wearing masks AND entertainment on huge stage safely social distanced.
• If the restaurant get’s too crowded or a particular group is ignoring masks or distancing….ASK FOR THE CHECK AND LEAVE. Stay out of crowded places.
• Play games again with your group! Poker, corn-hole, etc.
• Go out on a boat with them……there’s lots of fresh air and sun.
• Go to the beach! Lots of distancing, fresh air, saltwater….make it a picnic!
• As for personal care…….take 1 gram Vitamin C a couple times a day, put Emergen C in your bottles of water. Take a good multivitamin with zinc, get a good night’s sleep, eat good food.

So there you have some suggestions. The New Normal. It WILL get better. Numbers are improving, herd immunity is increasing, less people are dying as we seem to have a better idea on early treatment and support.