Steve Glaser: Grandma and grandpa face a thorny choice

Grandma and Grandpa have a major dilemma looming with Thanksgiving and Christmas just a few months away. Two of the most sacrosanct times of the year for spending time with family, but this season they will hesitate. Are they going risk getting COVID-19 or stay away from their grandchildren? It’s not a pleasant decision.

Families will make different choices, and I’m not going to criticize any of them. Sadly, some of the people who choose to hug their grandkids will become ill. In fact, these holidays could cumulatively be massive spreading events, as well as the last holidays our grandparents see on earth. On the other hand, staying in isolation may be safe, but it’s no way to live.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Other places have brought the epidemic under control, and there is no reason why Utah can’t join them. In fact, we were recently bringing our cases down fairly rapidly. Unfortunately, that trend has stopped.

There are things our state government could do to help the situation. We have contact tracing, but the capability needs to match the scale of the epidemic. Being able to let people know they should hunker down before they spread the disease is a priceless gift in these times.

This is not a place to skimp, even when our budget is stressed. No matter how many cases there are of COVID-19, there is some number of contact tracers that can keep up with the job of tracking down who these people have been in close contact with. Let’s make sure we hire and train that many.

The information yielded by contact tracing can play another role, too. We have a wonderful website – coronavirus.utah.gov – but there is something important missing from it. Namely, what activities are most responsible for spreading coronavirus?

Every one of us has our activities which we will and won’t do. But, over time, our personal lists have changed. Getting your hair cut seems like a dangerous activity. It is indoors and the barber or stylist is standing right next to you. But I haven’t heard of cases attributed to barbershops or salons, and I found a place where the chairs were well spaced and everyone, stylists and customers alike, wore masks. So, for the past three months, I’ve been getting my hair cut.

Is that really safe or have I started down a slippery slope? The contact tracing isn’t going to figure out the ultimate source of a large chunk of cases. But it would be telling if there are five or 50 or 500 cases in Utah that have been attributed to staying well groomed.

This would be informative for all sorts of activities. What are the biggest spreaders? Eating out? Going to the gym? The dentist? Massages or nail salons? Staying in a hotel? Or things we do that we don’t even think about.

We need to stay safe but we also need a sense of normalcy. Knowing which activities have truly been problematic will help us maintain our sanity in these times while also keeping us alive. To our government I say, please, make this data public.

Of course, in the meantime, we shouldn’t wait until Halloween to wear a mask. Do it for everyone’s grandparents.

Steve Glaser, Holladay, is retired from performing risk assessments at toxic waste sites. He’s looking to others to assess the risks and identify the best ways to manage them with COVID-19.