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Hello. Thank you for this service. My workplace is about to require five of us to spend one day a week in the office (we've been working remotely). We are all fully vaccinated and boosted, but a couple of them dine out frequently indoors, go to plays and concerts, and I am wondering if I should be worried that they will expose me to COVID. I am going to have to sit around a table with them with no mask. Am I worried about nothing?
Response: Worry is dependent on a person’s tolerance and perception of risk. Some folks readily seek out sky-diving and others would not want to consider doing it because of “risk”—the risk hasn’t changed but the individual’s tolerance of risk is different. You and your office-mates have done your best to be up-to-date with your Covid vaccinations—Kudos!
What are other things that might reduce your risk? Local community transmission data—are the numbers of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths increasing, decreasing, or staying level and what is the level? I like to look at the local “metrics” which are the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths per 100K population over the past 7-days. You can compare if you are in a pocket that may look good but are surrounded by large areas that do not look as good (perhaps upward trends or remaining high levels) by these metrics.
What is the indoor air environment—is there good ventilation, open windows, high number of air exchanges, air filtration, air purification (for example, through upper room ultra-violet germicidal air disinfection), or other means of improving the indoor air?
Is there a plan for testing—rapid tests have become much more widely available and your work should have a plan for routine testing or perhaps testing after having engaged in travel or spending time in crowded public venues.
If you still have concerns despite all these factors looking “good” then perhaps you have very little tolerance of risk, and this is a personal decision. So, in this instance you may want to pursue requesting an extension to your telework options.
