Page 97 - FDCC Pandemic Book

Living in a Pandemic: A Collection of Stories on Coping, Resilience & Hope
park was nearly empty. Access to everything was a breeze.
Paula’s sons beckoned from Minnesota. So, we studied new Covid airline safety rules as summer 2020 settled in. We decided to fly. The airport was nearly empty and the plane, sparkling clean. But this time it was not sopping of sanitizer like that first flight at Covid’s outset. The plane was comfortably spacious as on Delta, seats were left open for social distancing. Flight attendants assured masks were properly worn at all times other than eating/drinking. Sanitizer packs were handed to passengers on entering the plane, and again with in-flight snacks. Our rental car? Sopping wet from sanitizer....
Once in Minneapolis, our major chain
hotel survived on 25% capacity on a good
night. Most facilities were shut down,
including the restaurants, meeting spaces, and bars. Downtown was almost empty. Some of the higher-end restaurants were open, so we easily found a table where a year earlier there would have been no way. Another new rule: the host took our phone number for contact tracing use in case of an unlikely problem.
Major events? A colleague and I took a spontaneous driving trip two hours to Pittsburgh to catch the Notre Dame at U. Pitt NCAA football game. Only 6,000 folks were allowed into the 65,000 capacity Heinze Field stadium, so tickets were very sparse. Fifteen minutes before game-time, we drove freely to some of the closest- in parking, and walked without delay right to our seats. Mask marshals assured fans wore masks at all times, threatening expulsion from the stadium to those who resisted. The massive stadium felt empty. Concession lines simply did not exist, but thefoodwasfine! Afterward,weexitedthestadiumparkinglot-nohitch,nodelay, no traffic. Paula and I just had a similar experience with an NBA game; oddly empty, yet ridiculously easy.
International travel? Some folks are slipping away to do this too. Some, very close to us who themselves have recovered from Covid, succeeded. They are able to work remotely for a week or two at a time. Since they have quarantined, and live in a city that is all but requiring isolation and virtual quarantining, the idea of a quarantine is not daunting to them. They arranged their Covid tests appropriately, abided by all requisite international restrictions, and quarantined at home upon return. While
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