Susan Scarbro stares down a bowling lane at the distant pins.
She hears a sound that breaks her focus. Was that a cough? Will her mask protect her?
COVID-19 remains a very present threat for the 55-year-old. Scarbro has multiple immune disorders, making her vulnerable to infection.
Susan Scarbro talks about her medication regimen while standing next to her collection of pills and supplements in her home Jan. 3 in Sunset Beach, N.C.Â
“Any minute anybody could cough, just incidentally,†said Scarbro, who lives in Sunset Beach, North Carolina. “And that cough could be the one thing that could make me sick.â€
This month marks the fifth anniversary of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. The virus would go on to kill 1.2 million Americans and disrupt countless lives.
While the pandemic's emergency phase ended in May 2023, the threat of infection remains a governing force in the lives of people like Scarbro. They protect themselves from the virus with masks and isolate themselves in small family bubbles. Some grasp for unproven strategies — gargling with antiseptic mouthwash, carrying a personal carbon dioxide monitor to check the ventilation of indoor spaces.
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In online support groups, they trade research about the danger of repeat infections and cognitive impairment. They miss the empathy they felt during the early days of the pandemic. Some have lost friendships, but they strive to maintain the social ties that are important to mental health.
Scarbro’s bowling league helps her feel connected to her neighbors. But recently, she’s detected more stares and skeptical looks from strangers when she bowls in a mask.
Susan Scarbro bowls while wearing a mask Jan. 3 in Little River, S.C. Some people like Scarbro with immune system health problems continue to take precautions against COVID-19 five years into the pandemic.
“There was more respect and understanding, but now they’re over it," she said. "They expect me to be over it, but they don’t understand that even before COVID-19, these were the precautions I needed to take.â€
Most Americans have developed some level of protection against severe disease from previous COVID-19 infections, vaccinations or both. But immunocompromised people like Scarbro, who has common variable immune deficiency, must be constantly vigilant. Unlike the flu, COVID has not settled into a seasonal pattern.
“There’s never a time when they can relax a little bit,†said Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University. “That’s a really challenging and exhausting thing to ask someone to do.â€
Bazia Zebrowski outside her home Dec. 17 in Newbury, Ohio.
Who are the people still cautious about COVID-19? They include young caregivers of vulnerable relatives, people with chronic health conditions and families rallying around a loved one. In interviews with The Associated Press, they talked about how they manage the trade-offs and the toll of isolation on their mental health.
Before the pandemic, Bazia Zebrowski, 61, of Newbury, Ohio, dined out, shopped for groceries and took her dog, Shadoh, to the park. When she felt well, she occasionally could get together with friends despite having myalgic encephalomyelitis, a condition formerly known as chronic fatigue syndrome that causes inflammation, immune system problems, fatigue and pain.
Now she stays close to home, venturing out only for medical appointments. Her husband does the shopping and wears a mask at his workplace.
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They have not had COVID-19 and hope their luck holds. Getting sick would be a disaster, she said, potentially triggering a relapse or superimposing long COVID-19 onto her illness.
“I don’t consider myself COVID cautious. I consider myself COVID competent,†Zebrowski said. “Cautious would imply that I have an unreasonable fear of something. I do not have an unreasonable fear of this disease.â€
What does Zebrowski miss about pre-pandemic times? “I miss the illusion that people are willing to care for each other,†she said. “How hard is it to put a mask on? It rattles your faith in humankind … (you learn) how little the people in your life understood how sick you were to begin with.â€
Trauma is part of the experience of having a chronic illness, said DePaul University psychologist Leonard Jason, who has studied myalgic encephalomyelitis for more than three decades.
“Then you're traumatized by the societal reaction to the illness," he said.
Some people aren’t sick themselves but are taking precautions to protect a family member. Steve Alejandro, 42, of Wentzville, Missouri, calls himself a COVID shielder.
Steve Alejandro and his wife, Ashley, relax in the room where Ashley spends most of her time due to illness, in the basement of their home Dec. 18 in Wentzville, Mo.
His wife, Ashley Alejandro, 44, also has myalgic encephalomyelitis. “She’s got maybe four good hours a day,†Alejandro said. “There’s not a thing in the world I wouldn’t do to protect those four hours.â€
Alejandro changed careers during the pandemic, leaving behind “my whole support system†so he could sell vintage books online from home. His three children — now 20, 18 and 12 — never went back to in-person school after lockdowns ended and are continuing their learning at home.
“We’ve really come together,†Alejandro said.Â
Kira Levin, 29, stands with her 98-year-old grandmother Jeanette Levin, in their living room Dec. 16 in Pinecrest, Fla.
In Miami, Kira Levin is the primary caregiver for her 98-year-old grandmother. She said the thought of getting COVID-19 and risking her grandmother’s health is terrifying.
So, at a July wedding, the 29-year-old was the only bridesmaid and attendee in a mask — an N95 layered with a pretty mask to match the bride’s green color scheme.
“I didn’t take off the mask for pictures and nobody asked me to,†Levin said. “And I felt incredibly grateful for that.â€
Jacqueline and Alexa Child stand for a portrait in their neighborhood Dec. 18 in Denver.Â
Denver-based sisters Jacqueline and Alexa Child stay masked while going to concerts and dining outdoors with friends who don’t share the same level of COVID-19 caution.
“We have done everything we possibly could to maintain our mental health and our social life,†said Jacqueline, who has an immune disease that makes her vulnerable to infections.
Jacqueline, 30, and her sister Alexa, 34, launched a dating app called Dateability in 2022 for people who are disabled or chronically ill, though all are welcomed. Users can add a “COVID Cautious†tag to their profiles to signal they’re interested in meeting others who take precautions. The Child sisters say 10% of their 30,000 users add “COVID Cautious†to their dating profiles.
“It’s a market that we didn’t expect to target but we happily accept,†Jacqueline said.
Alexa said the precautions started as a way to protect Jacqueline, “but they’re no longer about that.†She’s trying to avoid long COVID, a long-term disability.
Americans spend less time outside home post-COVID-19, UCLA study reveals
Americans spend less time outside home post-COVID-19, UCLA study reveals
A by the University of California, Los Angeles indicates that Americans are spending more time inside their homes and far less time outside. The provides details.
Other studies—like a survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics—indicate that this could be a post-COVID-19 phenomenon. At the same time, there are studies that also suggest that Americans were spending more time alone even before the pandemic.
A published on Oct. 30 by Brian D. Taylor and Sam Speroni of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies and Eric A. Morris of Clemson University revealed that people are spending almost an hour less outside their homes each day compared to 2019. People are also reducing travel time by about 12 minutes daily.
The team delved into the American Time Use Survey data, which is collected by the federal government. They examined how over 30,000 people spent their days from 2019 to 2023, excluding 2020. They omitted 2020 due to the COVID-19 disrupted data gathering that year. Taylor and his colleagues believe this new homebody lifestyle is here to stay, as a side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. They're advocating for a fresh look at how cities are planned and moves are made.
About 22 million people worked from home in 2023, according to a Pew Research Center survey. About 39% of people across the country have jobs that allow employees to work from home, at least part of the time. With more people working from home, UCLA researchers say it's time to rethink how office and store spaces are used. They suggest relaxing restrictions on converting commercial buildings to housing and increasing curb space for delivery vehicles.
Morris pointed out that COVID-19 just accelerated changes that were already happening, like more online shopping and remote work. He thinks our cities and transportation need to catch up with these shifts.
This study could mean significant changes for how people build cities, run buses and trains, and use commercial buildings. Additionally, the authorities might need to rethink their long-term plans for roads, buildings, and zoning laws.
While it's clear that daily routines have changed, the researchers say more information is needed to truly understand how this affects health, social lives, and the economy.
On the other hand, another done by Patrick Sharkey, a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton, indicated that the time spent by Americans at home increased by one hour and 39 minutes a day, or 10%, from 2003 through 2022. It's a trend that rose sharply during the pandemic and had yet to return to more typical levels by 2022. Sharkey seemed to suggest that Americans preferred staying indoors even before the first stay-at-home orders were enacted.
In his influential 2000 book, "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community," political scientist investigated this trend. He posited that Americans had exchanged their social institutions, including churches, social clubs, and bowling leagues, for social isolation, which had negative repercussions for society.
As per Sharkey's research, people who were employed exhibited a significant increase in the amount of time they spent at home, as did those with higher incomes and levels of education.
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