I understand why people use the framing of “I did everything right and I still got COVID” and it’s useful inasmuch as it helps communicate that even when you take all the recommended precautions, there’s still a chance that you can be exposed

But it makes me feel a bit iffy about how the implication is also that most people who contract COVID because they did something ~wrong~. And I just don’t know how useful it is to sort actions into a binary of right and wrong. I’m no expert, but it’s more like a spectrum of risk

Most people are doing things that have some level of risk of catching COVID attached to them. Depending on context - where you are, the time of day, what steps you’re taking to mitigate risk - even the same activity done by the same person can have fluctuating levels of risk

But talking about it in terms of right and wrong actions - bad and good - brings a whole moral slant to it. Like people who get sick somehow deserve it. And that stigma makes people not report/alert friends to possible exposure/etc

It’s also become really clear that most people are bad at assessing risk when it’s something they really want to do. I’ve seen people who are otherwise taking extreme precautions suddenly mental gymnastics-style rationalize a fairly risky activity because they want to do it.

Anyway. Like I said, I’m not an expert. But I think we need clearer government directives, more financial for businesses so that they don’t feel like the only way to stay solvent is to re-open when it’s not safe, more financial and material support so that people can stay home

If governments are, on the one hand, allowing bars to re-open, but on the other hand offering weak “but stay home if you can” message, people are going to think it’s fine and safe to go to bars. Downloading risk assessment and self-policing onto regular citizens doesn’t work.

And by doing so, governments manage to pit people against each other - the people who are doing the “right” things taking out their anger and fear on people they view, correctly or not, as doing the “wrong” things. When really, it’s governments who are fucking us ALL over ...

By not offering strong leadership, by not mandating things that would help reduce spread, but also by incentivizing risky behaviour through not just allowing businesses to reopen but basically forcing them to do so or else go under from lost income

And governments need to also be clear to people what accessible low risk activities they can be doing to help relieve mental suffering. Making public spaces safer is huge. And as the weather turns and people can’t go to parks or whatever, we need to figure out new ways to do this