As massage therapists, we have chosen to be a particular kind of human. The kind who puts the safety and health of the people we serve ahead of our own preferences and politics.
I recently spent a few days working with palliative care colleagues in the intensive care unit. One patient I was not able to support due to a personal protective equipment (PPE) shortage was a 38-year-old man being treated for COVID. He was vaccinated but had previously undiagnosed health challenges that made him vulnerable to complications. The resources it took to care for him were astounding. He was the only patient on the unit being treated for COVID, but it was not hard to imagine the impossible task of caring for a unit filled with such patients. Sedated, ventilated, clinging to life—every moment a potentially fatal turning point.
If you’re feeling bored or finding yourself rolling your eyes at “yet another COVID story,” snap out of it. COVID is very much alive, and it is still very much our responsibility as people who care for people to . . . care for people.
Stay Resilient
Critical thinking remains key in keeping ourselves and the people we serve as safe as possible, but sometimes it takes some resiliency to think critically. We have to get our heads right. Being mad at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for “constantly changing its mind” or allowing your judgment to be clouded by frustration at the way politics has crept into our understanding of COVID can lead to fatigue that results in straight up negligence.
Ruth Werner wrote an excellent piece in July about the Delta variant and why we need to keep our heads in the game and pay attention to infection control measures (“COVID-19’s Delta Variant Means Business,” available at abmp.com/updates/blog -posts/covid-19-s-delta-variant-means-business). Read it. I know you’re tired. Splash some water on your face, take a deep breath, and read it.
Vaccinations are essential and not enough. If you come into contact with a person infected with Delta (and you probably won’t know when you do), you are at risk even if you are vaccinated, and so are the people you’re touching.
“Mask fatigue” and “COVID fatigue” are in your mind. That doesn’t mean they’re not real. It means it’s up to you to find the resilience to keep caring about and doing what you can to limit the risks that are as real as your fatigue. If you can’t do that, it might be time to take a break from caring for people.
To mask or not to mask has never been the question. Masks work. The US saw about 700 deaths from flu last year, compared with 22,000 in 2019 and 34,000 in 2018.1 The flu didn’t decide to take a year off. Its spread was stopped by masking and physical distancing.
It’s not about politics or freedom. It’s about particles and science. The latest data shows that wearing a mask protects others, but new information shows that wearing a mask also protects the wearer, assuming the mask fits well, that light cannot be seen through it, and that you wear it correctly and consistently.2
Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed by the debate of which mask is best. Analysis paralysis is just another excuse to abdicate your responsibility to do no harm. Experts continue to agree the best mask is one you will wear and one that fits well, snugly covering your nose as well as your mouth. End of story.
Some people may use rationalizations like “all of my clients are vaccinated” or “I don’t work with people in high-risk demographics” or “the infection rates in my community are low” to avoid wearing a mask. But Delta doesn’t care if you’re vaccinated, if infection rates change daily, or if most risk factors are invisible.
People who are at increased risk of infection, hospitalization, and death number in the hundreds of millions in the US when you add them all up. The high-risk demographic includes people living with conditions like asthma, which gets downplayed because it can be managed with prescriptions.3 People with chronic kidney disease are also at higher risk, but nine out of 10 of them don’t know they are living with chronic kidney disease.4 And if you think you know who does and does not have a weakened immune system, think again.
We also must consider the people who live and work with the people who are on our tables. The Delta variant has an R0 (its production number) of 6. That means that six people, on average, are likely to become infected by any single person carrying the virus.5 That’s about three times more contagious than the flu and Ebola, and as contagious as chickenpox.6 That means every time you spend more than 15 minutes in an enclosed space with another human, you are potentially infecting at least six others. Your clients have kids who are too young to be vaccinated, elderly relatives, people going through cancer treatment, or people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in their lives.
It’s your responsibility to ensure you do your part to protect them.
Notes
1. Katie Peek, “Flu has Disappeared for More Than a Year,” Scientific American, April 29, 2021, www.scientificamerican.com/article/flu-has-disappeared-worldwide-during-the-covid-pandemic1.
2. Elizabeth Segran, “The Delta Variant is Highly Contagious. Which Masks Offer the Best Protection?,” Fast Company, August 2, 2021, www.fastcompany.com/90660797/the-delta-variant-is-highly-contagious-which-masks-offer-the-best-protection.
3. Mayo Clinic Staff, “COVID-19: Who’s at Higher Risk of Serious Symptoms?,” July 29, 2021, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-who-is-at-risk/art-20483301.
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States, 2021,” March 4, 2021, www.cdc.gov/kidneydisease/publications-resources/ckd-national-facts.html.
5. Anders Gunderson and Liana Woskie, Harvard Global Health Institute, “Understanding Predictions: What is R-Naught?,” February 7, 2020, https://globalhealth.harvard.edu/understanding-predictions-what-is-r-naught.
6. Kathy Katella, Yale Medicine, “5 Things to Know About the Delta Variant,” August 13, 2021, www.yalemedicine.org/news/5-things-to-know-delta-variant-covid.
Cal Cates is an educator, writer, and speaker on topics ranging from massage therapy in the hospital setting to end-of-life care and massage therapy policy and regulation. A founding director of the Society for Oncology Massage from 2007–2014 and current executive director and founder of Healwell, Cates works within and beyond the massage therapy community to elevate the level of practice and integration of massage overall and in health care specifically. Cates also is the co-creator of the podcasts Massage Therapy Without Borders and Interdisciplinary.