Where I live in Idaho, the medical professional in charge of some health thing in our region believes in ivermectin as a treatment and calls vaccines "needle rape." He said that publicly. About 40% or more here believe in doctors like him. And parts of Oregon want to convert to being part of Idaho because they can't stand their own state's restrictions, which will increase the people who think just like that.

When our own leaders are giving such advice to their patients, based on what I've heard from fellow veterans in this area, I just couldn't hear it anymore. There's no reasoning with them. I've had to be very cautious about who I make friends with (less than a handful of people, to be honest - but all vaccinated and mask-wearing, though they still travel and go to restaurants while playing it safe; I'm not there yet).

I do have OCD. This pandemic made me worse. I was never like this before. I never washed my hands frequently, even though fomite transmission is low. I've never been so hypervigilant about all things 'Rona either.

But I'm not sure how to balance anything when even the world's leaders are saying to mask this, wash that, distance this, blow air that, etc. It's all confusing. I don't know who to trust, and so my survival mode kicks in and says to do it all until there's some consensus.

Dr. Marr at Virginia Tech will assert to wear masks and ventilate as best you can, and to watch for test positivity rates in your area or the area you travel. And her colleagues go as far as saying to get CO2 monitors in rooms (certain levels may detect higher amounts of possible virus in the air, meaning to air out the room or to go outside at those times, etc.). There's also these home-made HVAC systems with just a fan and a few filters that they are making for classrooms, etc.

When the anti-this and anti-that told me directly to "stay the ___ home" and "do your research," I did just that - isolate, watch my 6, avoid them toxic people at all costs, avoid being a target of hate by isolating, and follow all the TRUE research from scientists like Dr. Marr on aerosols and how this virus spreads.

Wearing masks do help. Wearing N95 or N99 masks really help.

Washing hands minimizes risk, but wearing gloves ensures that fewer pathogens get under nails, where it's harder to wash.

Showering after every outing and immediately placing clothing in the hamper isolates any pathogens and ensures clean clothing for the remainder of the day.

Having multiple air purifiers helps when your delivery persons are unmasked, and when you also wear a mask to open the door and grab door deliveries. Cleaning the items before putting them away also reduces risk and adds movement - like exercise - to help burn calories (per the VA's MOVE program), so that becomes a double plus, even if it is part of my OCD. I learned that earlier on by a doctor from Michigan. I also make sure that I shower after a door delivery and hang out in my room for at least an hour so that the air purifiers could filter any aerosols from the unmasked delivery person. Dr. Marr and Dr. Fauci would agree to wear a mask in enclosed spaces such as apartment buildings and with door deliveries of unmasked delivery persons. So it isn't going overboard to truly prevent and protect one from getting Covid. It's following the science, doing the research, and erring on the side of caution when there remains a lack of compliance, enforcement, and mandates.

This lax pandemic fatigue that has everyone - including the vaccinated - go maskless for non-essentials is not doing everything to slow the spread or to prevent contraction when masks are not worn properly (slipping, having only a 3-ply mask on, having the mask fall below the nose, etc.), or when people think that going maskless around vaccinated people means no covid risk. On the contrary, vaccinated persons can still contract and spread it to both vaccinated and unvaccinated persons - regardless if they are healthy or not. That's not taking precautions, that's just a different level of risk tolerance than those who are immunocompromised and cannot afford such tolerances. They aren't used to being isolated; it's just part of their restricted lifestyle - with even more restrictions from this pandemic. It would be kind to at least allow them some outside air space and exercise by having the community mask in public spaces.