Wednesday morning, my husband received a text from his hairdresser saying she had to cancel his appointment that evening. She’d tested positive for COVID-19.
While making other arrangements,we discussed some of the people we knew who had been impacted by COVID-19 in the last month. With the relaxing of masking and other protocols, immunocompromised friends, including those with Long COVID, couldn’t risk traversing busy holiday airports and stayed home alone, some of our favorite restaurants reduced their hours due to employee illnesses and a few indoor events experienced lower than expected attendance.
Later the same day, I read a great piece by Heather Ringo in Alice Wong’s Disability Visibility Project blog, titled “We Keep Us Safe: Bay Area Businesses Practicing Community Care.” In the info-packed article, Ringo features a variety of California businesses, everything from a dentist office to cafes/bookstores/community spaces/galleries that have strong COVID policies in place.
Many of the business owners viewed their policies as falling under disability justice and the ADA. For example, for those who need them, personal respirators are not easy to obtain. Immunocompromised folks also interact more than the general public with the health care community. To stay healthy and enjoy life, they need this specific community care.
Most of the businesses Ringo featured experienced a minimal loss in business, most gained customers. Policies include: mandatory masking, CO2 monitoring, social distancing, free KN95 masks, set-aside hours for the masked, details on their websites regarding policies, free test kits, extensive ventilation improvements, outdoor seating and online services. California’s Kaiser Santa Rosa hospital systems was hit recently with a COVID-19 outbreak and reinstituted original protocols. They were not solely using incident numbers to act.
Ringo’s article made me think about our community. What had we learned from the pandemic? Which protocols were we willing to bring back and under what conditions? As someone who’d spent most of 2023 extremely ill with other health issues, I didn’t want to start 2024 at risk for more sickness, especially if it could be prevented. Personally, I’ve returned to more isolating and while in public, masking.
Since the pandemic began, we still have curbside service at our public libraries and grocery stores. Stores like Target had curb service even before the pandemic. Delivery services like DoorDash have remained popular. Tents and outdoor heated seating are still in use. Sneeze guards and plexiglass barriers, as well as copper door handles can be found in restaurants and other businesses. Remote working and Zoom meetings have continued. As have virtual medical appointments.
The first Christmas of the pandemic, I wanted to shop at our Botanical Garden At Historic Barns Park gift shop. Needing to isolate, I asked the staff to use their cell phone to film the offerings in the store. As they filmed in real time, I followed along, watching and asking questions where I needed to. Then I selected my items and paid by credit card. My husband picked up the merchandise, though the staff had offered to ship everything. The store had never done this before and now many stores have videos on their websites so customers can shop this way.
Hats off to our Botanical Garden.
Let’s all help each other stay healthy.