Our Summer with Coronavirus

As a critical care doc with a pediatrician wife, 4 school aged kids, and a summer of uncertainty ahead, here is how our family is approaching the coming months.

Also, some GIFs.

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I offer this as a point of reference for those struggling with how to handle the dog days, not as a recipe that others should follow. This is OUR way- I don’t pretend that it is THE way. Some will think we are overly cautious, and others will think we are being cavalier.
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This plan operates under 4 assumptions.

( @BossletMD and I had to agree on the following, which was a discussion worth having)

Summer plan assumption 1:

If I or my immediate family members (wife and kids) contract COVID, the odds are FAR in our favor that we would be fine.
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Summer plan assumption 2:

If we were to be infected, however, there would be a period of time (days if not longer) in which we would have no idea and would be infectious. We would be vectors of COVID.

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Summer plan assumption 3:

There are people with whom I would love to interact that would be in danger if one of us were to pass COVID to them. I don’t want to be in a position where someone I love who is in a risky group gets COVID from me or one of mine.

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Summer plan assumption 4:

We all want to see things back to normal as soon as possible. We want school in the fall and hugs with grandparents. So we are going to be vigilant about trying not to spread COVID around.

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Given these assumptions, the following precepts will guide how we will proceed this summer. THESE ARE COMPLETELY SUBJECT TO CHANGE AS CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE- THESE ARE A STARTING POINT.

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Summer precept 1: Our family will continue to hunker down as much as we are able. We will only venture out for necessary things, one of these being occasional human interaction.

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Summer precept 2: We will try to spend as much time as we can outdoors. I consider outdoors to be safer than indoors. This is because a) the outdoors is better ventilated, and b) people tend to touch a lot of the same things indoors: doorknobs, faucet handles, etc.

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Summer precept 3: When enjoying the outdoors, as much as possible, we will avoid touching those things I mentioned above. We will limit our use of public restrooms (as possible). We will bring our own water bottles to avoid public fountains. We will pack a lot of picnics.

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Summer precept 4: Our kids will not be going to large camps or gatherings or the public pool like in the awesome summer days of years past (for which I am painfully nostalgic).

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Summer precept 5: We will avoid crowds. No Disney or State Fair or concerts for us. As someone who has seen this thing from the front line, it is just not worth it right now. But I look forward to the day when I don’t consider these places risky for all of us.

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Summer precept 6: We will select occasional outdoor social gatherings in small groups with people we know and love and miss. If these involve food, we will orchestrate this so that there are no buffet lines or shared utensils. This is new and will require trial and error.

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Summer precept 7: We will continue to visit high risk family members like we do now: sitting 6 feet apart in lawn chairs without sharing any food or physical contact.

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Summer precept 8: We will wear masks while inside public buildings. We won’t forget them. If we are in a crowded place outside, we will wear them. We do this to protect those around us from our germs. I consider it a sign of respect to the humans around me to wear a mask.

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Summer precept 9: We won’t wear gloves unless it is cold (if I have to wear gloves this summer to keep my hands warm then we have bigger problems than Coronavirus). Gloves aren’t helpful unless you replace them after each interaction/touch, and that is just not feasible.

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Summer precept 10: We will use hand sanitizer a lot. We won’t shake your hand (sorry) but we may bump elbows (but maybe not). And we will sanitize hands after touching things in public: door handles, etc. We will wash our hands with soap and water at every opportunity.

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Summer precept 11: We won’t fly anywhere this summer. We may take one road trip. This will depend on how infection rates look in the next few weeks. If we do we will stop only when absolutely necessary, wash our hands vigilantly, and avoid crowds.

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Summer precept 12: If things remain calm we may have our kids do some local outdoor day camps later in the summer with those places we know are taking this seriously and will do their best to limit numbers and use this as an opportunity to teach about science and germs.

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Summer precept 13: We will continue to hope beyond all hope that our kids will be going to school in the fall. If we are “e-learning” again, I don’t know how we will survive.

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Summer thankful appendix: If we had toddlers I would keep them home all summer. They are super-spreaders of disease because they touch everything and everyone. Which would really be hard. (I am happy we are out of the toddler phase of life for this, although we barely are.)

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This is the summer of uncertainty. Let’s proceed with humility, the willingness to check assumptions regarding how things will play out, and grace for those around us who disagree with our decisions (within reason).

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