We’re probably at the most the most dangerous point in the pandemic. There’s a sense of being still in it, but wanting to be out of it at the same time.

It’s been creeping up on us for a while. I first noticed in March, when I caught what likely was the Omicron strain while at a party. I did the home tests, but kept coming up negative, even after I experienced symptoms. I ended up in a testing clinic to ‘check’ my work, and even tested negative there. But because I showed symptoms, doctor told me I was “presumed positive” but there was no way to use a PCR test to check because they weren’t doing them for people in my age group. I stayed out of hospital, but I wished could self-report, as part of the official count.

I took my second booster late last month in a local pharmacy. I got there on time for my appointment, but gone was all the signage telling me where to check in. Those of us there for tests, and vaccines were thrown in with the rest of the pharmacy traffic. It seemed like a situation ready for potential mistakes.

I get it. This desire to get past the pandemic, and put it behind me. The drive to return to the way things were before. The whole problem is “normal” no longer exists as much as we want it to.

Navigating life with COVID-19 is a kind of tightrope where we learn how to live with the virus and its precautions, and resuming a busy life. We’re in a dangerous spot until we figure this out.