Yeouch. I think COVID is on its way to becoming a cold, but that reminds me more of the worse-than-a-cold-not-quite-as-bad-as-the-flu thing I caught after a school visit a few years back. I'm fairly sure that I actually got a dose of enterovirus D68, which was circulating badly amongst kids that year.

At the time my doctor just said "It's a bad cold, you don't have pneumonia, go back to bed." Then the EV D68 outbreak started in full measure and I looked at the symptoms and went "Oh, it's THAT."

In other words, COVID is moving, for the vaccinated and those who have built up immunity into that "flu-like" range with things like that, worse than a common cold and not something you want, but for the majority of us not something to be scared of. (AlthoughI do get being scared).

That said?

I'm keeping my mask on for a bit longer. I'm moving on, and I can't stay locked down or go back into lockdown without getting fairly severe psychological symptoms.

But I'm also being careful. There's a middle road...we all need to learn to watch out for respiratory outbreaks, stay home when sick, and keep masks handy for when there's ANYTHING circulating that could knock us on our butt for a week or worse.