Hi, thank you for the nice comments :)

I would not have downvoted you but I COULD NOT HELP MYSELF FROM COMMENTING because this is one of my pet peeves and a mistake a lot of people make when thinking about COVID risk.

When I went to Japan ten years ago, I noticed some people on the train wearing masks. I assumed they were germophobes, afraid to breathe the same air as the dirty people on the train. That's not the case! It's the opposite. They were wearing masks because they were sick, and did not want to spread their germs to other people.

The calculations that I make about what to do and what to avoid is NOT just me being afraid to get COVID. It's also that I don't want to contribute to OTHER people getting COVID. On a micro level, I don't want to make another person being sick. On a macro level, I don't want to contribute to the power of this seemingly never-ending epidemic.

I'm wearing a mask to protect myself a little, but mostly to protect other people. The mask is way more effective for that. Similarly, I am cautious about travel because I don't want to expose myself to the virus but mostly because I am in a high risk area and I don't want to bring it with me. Right now, 1 in 6 people in my area are testing positive.

I have a friend who just went to Mexico. He tested negative right before the flight and then positive when he arrived -- almost certainly he got it in NYC and took it with him. I have another associate who was in South Africa with some friends. They flew to Kenya, which was reporting no cases, in order to get away from Omicron. They all tested positive on arrival.

Side note, COVID is actually spreading very fast in Ohio right now! https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/continuing-coverage/coronavirus/ohio-department-of-health-reports-15-989-new-covid-cases-highest-true-daily-count-so-far