Yesterday I underwent a COVID test. It was the first time I had been tested outside of the need to do so prior to international travel. Why did I subject myself to this lovely experience? For the last 20 months I have been very careful about wearing masks while indoors. I was vaccinated on the first day it was available to me. When boosters were authorized, I was near the front of the line. Physically I feel normal. I was tested because of loud music.
Last week I attended the annual meeting of the Child Neurology Society. The conference was held in beautiful Boston, Massachusetts. It was the Society’s 50th anniversary. Last year the program was virtual and, therefore, no fun. For this special meeting the Society decided to have the conference in person if at all possible. The State of Massachusetts had no restrictions on the size of in person meetings. I hate attending meetings virtually, so when registration opened, I signed up.
Attendees were expected to be vaccinated. They were also expected to wear masks at all times. Everyone did. The scientific program began daily at 7 a.m. daily continuing to at least 5 p.m., sometimes later. I was thrilled to see old friends and make new ones.
In general, I felt comfortable with the requirements and precautions taken. In my opinion the organizers made one error, which could have been easily corrected. Each evening there was a social event, always held indoors. Drinks and food were delicious and required we remove our masks to sample. These events were 90 minutes long, which meant that almost all attendees had their masks off and were eating simultaneously. To me, this was probably okay given the demographics of the attendees, namely vaccinated physicians. Each one of the events, though, was accompanied by excellent live music, loudly played. This, of course, necessitated everyone to shout to make themselves heard, often at very close range to other attendees.
By the third night it felt like I was in a deliberate super spreader event. I attended the social event but kept my mask on, eating after the party was over.
Perhaps the organizers of the social events in Boston might learn something from the Malawians.
After returning to Washington DC, I spoke to co-workers about my unease. Terrie Taylor let several us know that in Malawi, the volume of music in bars is now regulated, preventing people from needing to shout to one another. Perhaps the organizers of the social events in Boston might learn something from the Malawians.
And so, three days after returning from Boston, I received a COVID test, a most unpleasant experience. I am flying to Malawi this weekend. If my test was positive, I wanted to reschedule my trip now, rather than immediately before departure. Fortunately, it was negative. I will be retested on Friday, prior to departure. Cross your fingers.
This morning, minutes after receiving my negative test result, I bicycled up to the National Mall. The field of white flags are still present. It is a stirring and sad sight. I read that 200,000 of the 700,000 flags needn’t have been there. They are small monuments to people whose deaths could have been prevented by vaccination. Some were never offered a vaccine. Others were offered vaccination but died due to their refusal. Refusing a proven effective preventative public health measure is a very unwise decision that may have adverse consequences, vaguely reminiscent of playing music loudly at an indoor social event during a pandemic.
