To go out or not to go out? As the festive season ramps up, that is the question. We don’t know what Christmas will be like this year, and we aren’t being given a great deal of instruction in preparation. Again. We are in a very different situation now than we were last year, yet there are still remnants of the conflicting logic and confusing messaging that characterised that time in 2020.

In November last year, I wrote about the garbled messaging coming from Government as restrictions were lifted, something that ended up having chaotic and tragic consequences. At the time, I thought it would be better if people conceived of a return to socialising as something framed as a menu of choices – “or” not “and” – otherwise adherence to public health guidelines would fall apart, cases would rise and we’d be in lockdown again, which is what happened.

Going to clubs and bars and gigs and restaurants and parties does increase your close contacts, and your risk of exposure to the virus

Hospital Report

We are, of course, as we keep being told, and as we know, in a different place a year later – and a much better one. For now, the barrier or safety net the vaccine offers – in terms of how it effectively reduces incidents of serious illness, hospitalisation and death – is holding. But that doesn’t relate to transmission, and cases will continue to rise in the short term at least. There doesn’t really seem to be a recognition that Ireland never experienced an intense surge of the Delta variant in the way that other countries did. What we know about the pandemic is that various jurisdictions exist on various timelines, and that you don’t magically get away with a phase experienced elsewhere (something that also depends heavily on restrictions and behaviour), because it does end up happening in at least some form.

Last year, I thought everyone flocking to restaurants, pubs and parties, and the huge number of people travelling back to Ireland, were in a state of delusion and dispensing with logic because we all wanted our nice things back. But I also don’t believe in constructing a moral high ground made up of self-flagellation or projecting an austere self-satisfied state of denying oneself pleasure or connection to demonstrate you’re giving yourself a pandemic gold star. That is, to put it bluntly, no craic.

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Lockdown institutionalisation

But I do think we could do with a bit of a reality check that isn’t about leaning into the sense of isolation or even the touch of institutionalisation lockdown caused, but is more about getting our priorities right. I wonder whether I should be making more out of what can be framed as a window of opportunity – seize the day now, because you don’t know what’s coming around the corner. But going to clubs and bars and gigs and restaurants and parties does increase your close contacts, and your risk of exposure to the virus.

It seems that we’re not really meant to think about this in order to “get our lives back”, yet are simultaneously being told by public health officials to please think about it a lot in order to reduce transmission. Prof Philip Nolan offered an instruction to reduce one’s close contacts by 30 or 40 per cent, which I don’t think is a piece of behavioural science people can quickly and proactively make an assessment of and enact in their real lives.

Socialising and social interactions have been so limited for many over this time, that for them to come flooding back can jolt us into 'flight' mode

This conflicting atmosphere has caused me to stall in some ways. At a time when the future has narrowed, I’m thinking about the near future: if I really want to go to something in a couple of weeks time, then I should probably not attend things that matter less to ensure I get the thing I really want down the line. I don’t know if I’m drawing unnecessary boundaries for myself, but it does feel logical.

Rusty skills

So one part of me is slightly confused by public messaging, and the other part is dealing with how rusty my social skills are. Because there’s another difference to now and last year: last year, it did seem like everyone was bursting to socialise. This time around, it’s not uncommon for people to be shirking the social occasions and spaces that they so deeply missed. Personally, I’m trying to balance what I want and what I need, with what I have capacity for.

Capacity seems to be a real issue for people. Socialising and social interactions have been so limited for many over this time, that for them to come flooding back can jolt us into “flight” mode. You may imagine yourself walking into a packed room with music blaring, and given how we’ve been conditioned over this time instantly flick to “get me out here!” mode.

I hear people saying, “I don’t know if I’m ready” or “I wouldn’t be able for that right now”. These feelings aren’t necessarily linked directly to worry about contracting the virus, even though the pandemic has obviously created the context for these feelings. Personal capacity is something that’s built, not instantly attained. It’s also something that should be tested, safely. But when it comes to limiting contacts, I have a feeling that it’s people’s personal capacity that is an underreported underlying aspect of their behaviour, rather than the threat of another wave.

This time, the surge is different, but while we may choose to ignore it again, it is actually under way. How we confront that reality is, once again, being left up to us.