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COVID Still Lurking as Many Resume Pre-Pandemic Activities

April 08, 2022

What do House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont have in common besides being high profile Democratic politicians?

They have all announced this week that they are positive for COVID-19.

A slew of other lawmakers and celebrities have too. So what gives — isn’t COVID on the decline, and aren’t we in the process of loosening restrictions?

“The reality is that FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is starting to creep in,” said Dr. Ulysses Wu, Medical Director of Infectious Disease for Hartford HealthCare.  “What I mean by that is I have always said that COVID is a social disease and as time goes on, COVID begins to fade in our consciousness and as more and more people unmask and go to events and parties, others will follow suit and take less precautions which is part of the reason cases are creeping up.  The hope is that hospitalizations, which have been rising, do not rise as much as feared.”

Dr. Wu said there are easy precautions people can take to keep the latest uptick in COVID cases, which generally have been mild, at bay.

“People should be vaccinated and boosted,” Wu said.  “My rule of thumb for masking is no masks are needed for outdoors, but if you are going indoors into an unknown situation, simply wear a mask.

Gov. Lamont seems to be heeding those precautions.

“He is feeling good and not experiencing any symptoms, and he is grateful that he is receiving protection from the second booster shot he received last week,” said Max Reiss, director of communications for the governor, in a media release. “Per CDC guidance and out of an abundance of caution, the governor will quarantine at home for the next five days and not attend any in-person events or meetings. He will continue to monitor himself for symptoms and will take another PCR test in several days. The governor continues to encourage everyone to get vaccinated and receive their boosters in order to protect themselves and their loved ones.”

And what’s Wu’s prediction on the latest COVID surge?

“This current wave should hopefully remain small and hopefully begin to decrease in the next few days to weeks,” Wu said.