Think what you want. I haven't "bought into the hype and fear", but I'm willing to acknowledge that others have.
And, yeah, while most people who get this virus will not die, and many will not get sick at all, I (and no one else for that matter) can predict WHO will have WHAT outcome.
For every story I've heard about someone having minimal to no symptoms (similar to mine), I've heard one about someone getting really sick and being hospitalized. Heck, my neighbor right across the street tested positive earlier this week, and she is really struggling. She was being careful, but clearly she wasn't being paranoid. Her story doesn't scare me, but it probably would scare someone else (or confirm their existing fears).
So, yes, I did "contact tracing". Not just because my employer required it, but because I have a moral obligation to tell those I've been in contact with that I'm sick. I didn't do it with the county, because, frankly, any contact tracing where you don't even contact the sick person until 5 days after they've tested positive is an absolute joke.
I would not characterize any of them as "high risk". A few are 50+, and one has weight/high blood pressure issues, but that's irrelevant. You don't pick and choose who you contact based on how high risk you ~think~ they are. Just be honest with everyone and let them do with the information what they want. It's not my place to judge them for it because my judgement isn't going to change their minds.
I'm just trying to do the responsible thing to preserve my relationships with family, friends, and coworkers.
I don't think doing the responsible thing means the government stepping in with closures and restrictions. For me, personally, I don't think the responsible thing means shutting myself up in my own home. I've been out and about, doing my best to live a "normal", hysteria-free life, and support the businesses that have really struggled through this. Edit: Not out and about this week, but in the months before I got sick.
But, the responsible thing does mean that individuals who get sick should be open and honest with information so that other people are able to make the best decisions for themselves. There IS a difference.
Not to mention, I'm (relatively) young, not overweight, not diabetic, don't have high blood pressure, etc. There was no need for me to ever be scared of this virus. But, the majority of Americans, particularly those age 40+, can't say the same thing. If anything, the past 10 months should have been a wake up call for people to address their health issues. But, some people aren't going to want to do that and would rather panic instead.
All I can say to that is, it's their life (and not mine). Because there isn't a darn thing I can do to change it. And I'm certainly not going to argue with family and friends about it.
I totally agree with your point about not doing this for any other illnesses. I don't have a good explanation for that. Frankly, I think as a society we do a great job of completely ignoring some of the worst killers (pneumonia, heart disease, diabetes). I don't understand why people have decided to label this virus as worse than any of those other illnesses.
I haven't been sick with the flu in a while (over 10+ years), but I like to think if I was, I'd at least tell people I came in contact with to watch out for symptoms. I know when I got sick with a tick-borne virus summer before last and broke out in a horrible rash and had conjunctivitis that caused one eye to swell shut, I told people who I came into contact with what I had and that it wasn't contagious.
