I tested positive yesterday and it is not pleasant.

And people I know wonder why I'm not interested in going to gatherings. When my fellow humans will not even take the basic steps to mitigate the spread of illness what do you do?
Denying there is a virus that makes people with even good immune systems ill is equally disheartening.

Our state health department has detected this new variant in our wastewater, which means it's here, even if people aren't actually testing as much. Flu, Covid, etc., are only brought into our state by plane and cruise ship, since we are surrounded by a moat of ocean. We currently have an influx of elderly visitors (snowbirds) who are coming in to the state, bringing what ever illnesses they contracted over the holidays and their travel.

I live in a vacation rental complex, and several of the visitors have severe coughs, yet are going out mingling with the residents and other visitors at the bars, restaurants and other close quarter environments. I can hear them coughing on their lanais and at the pool.

Talking with a housekeeper yesterday, she told me which condo units were occupied with covid positive visitors. Because the housekeeper is well liked, the infected guests, even if they were out and about in the community while sick, leave a note as they are leaving asking the housekeeper to give it a thorough cleaning, admitting they were covid positive, so that the next guests in the room won't get sick. Um, why didn't they think about that as they were coughing on us all during their vacation? Selfishness, yet wanting to clear their conscience a little as they left.

Covid positive folks are supposed to isolate for 5 days, and/or wear masks when out in a crowd. Residents do that willingly, since it's a small community and we all understand none of us want to be responsible for making others sick. But tourists don't care about that - some wear masks when out with questionable health - but the vast majority don't even bring masks on their vacation any more.

I'm lucky I can keep to myself for the most part, avoiding crowded places, but I feel sad for the workers who have to be in close quarters with the secretly infected. We see a spike this week, with travelers who have recently spent time in holiday gatherings and traveled without precautions. Cough cough cough... I want to shout "Stay home if you're sick!" Some may not have known they were sick before they traveled, but some do and come anyway, since the reservations are already paid for, and they are not going to spend their whole vacation in their condo room, when there's so much to see and do.

The other day so many people at the pool (right below my window) were coughing and each spouting loudly their conspiracy "truths" like "I know that the vaccines are what is killing people, not the virus." and "I know that Elvis is still alive" and "I know Trump really won the election" and on and on. It was so humorous that I almost hated to close my window, but I didn't want their cough germs to make their way into my condo.

After the many holiday gatherings it would seem to be right on time. First it gets spread at gatherings and if each of those infected gives it to two or more others it quickly grows exponentially.