Last spring, as the “season” was winding down and COVID was ramping up, there seemed to be an air of invincibility in the resort. Lots of going-away parties, nary a mask in sight and no social distancing. It seemed to me that people were taking a lot of risks, but they got away with it – there were no reports of COVID in the park.
This year is different. Shortly after I returned from the funeral (Oct 29) a notice went out that a resident couple had both tested positive and were self-quarantining. Shortly after that a workamper tested positive. Now a pickleball player has tested positive after playing pickleball with 18 people. Pickleball is an outdoor activity so the risk of transmission is reduced, but still… that is 4 confirmed cases and potentially several dozen other people exposed. And the park is no more than 50% full – maybe 300 people, tops. That means that potentially up to 10% of the residents have had some exposure to the virus. It seems inevitable that more cases will follow.
A couple of days ago I ran into (from a distance) one of the regular pickleball players. He invited me to return to the courts and I promised that I would, soon. Well, maybe not so soon now. And I am glad I wasn’t one of the 18 who were exposed last week.
Maybe residents will start to take this pandemic seriously now.