When I posted the first Camping and COVID-10 post we were all hoping things would get better quickly. Well, things haven't gotten better quickly! In many places the increase in the spread of the disease has caused government to impose more restriction on our activities. Fortunately, most restrictions focus on indoor activities and large outdoor gatherings. For the most part we can still enjoy using our RVs, OHVs, and water craft. With the promise of an effective vaccine on the horizon we may have some hope of things more or less returning to normal in 2021.
COVID-19 has certainly taken its toll on many of the activities we were accustomed to enjoying. However, outdoor recreation, such as camping, dirt biking, and sailing, remain fairly accessible. Social distancing puts limits on campfire gatherings but many of the other things we like to do outdoors are relatively unaffected. Maintaining the recommended 6’ social distance spacing usually isn’t too much of a problem when dirt biking or water skiing for example, but it sure puts a kink in traditional campfire gatherings!
The “rules” seem to change every day and are often different from place to place and are often confusing if not downright perplexing. A friend of mine discovered there was a 10 person limit on family gatherings for Thanksgiving but, in his jurisdiction, the limit for funeral s was 30 people. So, his Thanksgiving gathering is going to be a funeral for his pet turkey! While we can admire his creativity it is possible that the increased group size could possibly result in an increased opportunity to spread the virus, assuming you accept the CDC guidelines.
It is frustrating, at least to me, to see such diverse reporting surrounding the COVID-19 situation. One the one hand you have those who favor even stricter rules for face masks and limits on public gatherings and cite increasing COVID-19 cases and deaths to support their position. On the other hand are those who cite statistics that supposedly show COVID-19 is less dangerous than the “normal” seasonal flu and claim wearing face masks is a larger health problem than COVID-19. Fortunately I have a family member in the medical profession I can turn to for trustworthy information. He has personally treated more than 2000 COVID-19 cases and remains free of the virus. He attributes that largely to maintain proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and procedures, i.e., N-95 face masks and frequently washing of hands. While these might be considered by some to be an invasion of personal freedom, they take little effort and CAN make a big difference. Hand washing, for example, even before the COVID-19 pandemic was considered by many to have been the single most significant advance in medicine in the last 200 years when it comes to preventing infection and the spread of disease. Before doctors understood the part germs play in causing and spreading infection it was not unusual for a doctor to handle an infected corpse and move on to a more or less healthy patient without even washing their hands. Someone once told me of physicians in the Old West stropping their scalpels on the leather soles of their boots before operating on a patient. Just imagine what those boots had been stepping in back in those days!
So, when it comes to camping (and other outdoor activities), there are still many opportunities we can take advantage of. However, in the interest of avoiding catching COVID-19 – or falling victim to the fear-generated over-zealous reaction of some people to failure to comply with stated guidelines, it is prudent to comply with government regulations as much as possible. Maintain at least 6 feet spacing between you and people who are not part of your household. Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly for at least 20 seconds, especially after being in close proximity to other people who might be carrying the virus. Keep your face mask with you so you can don it whenever needed.
Many people think they don’t need to wear their face masks outdoors. However, micro droplets from coughing, sneezing and even just breathing, hangs around longer than most people think. Hiking jogging, or riding a bike even many feet behind an infected person could expose you to the virus so it is still a good idea to avoid being around people you can’t be sure are safe.
The good news is there is now a vaccine! It isn't widely available yet and is currently only released as with provisional FDA emergency approval. However, it has been successfully tested on more than 15,000 people, The first round of vaccinations are going to front line medical personnel and high risk environments (doctors, first responders, and assisted living facilities). Hopefully the introduction of a vaccine will mean the pandemic will soon be over and things can get back to "normal", whatever THAT means these days! There is talk of the "new normal"; my wife calls it the '"new ab-normal". I may be a bit cynical, but I tend to agree with her.
Hang in there! This won’t last forever!
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