WAUSAU, Wis.— After months of masks, hand washing and social distancing, people are getting tired of COVID-19.
“Everybody is sick of it, but you have to roll with it. It is what it is,” said Nicole Selner of De Pere. “You try to make the best of it, and find some positive moments. You have no choice but to keep going.”
She hits on a few of the tips experts say people can embrace to help them manage through the fatigue of living in a pandemic for six months.
It’s important to focus on things we can control: Our attitude, the things we can do and the little things in life, said Stephanie Hamann, a child and family therapist at Children’s Wisconsin in Wausau.
“I can control my behavior and I can control little things about my life that can bring some happiness or joy or can caused me to have a little more sense of hope,” she said. “Maybe it is something as simple as a new mask. Maybe it’s something as simple as turning off the TV and being more present with my kids.”
Weariness from the pandemic comes at a time when health officials say vigilance is of the utmost importance as case numbers rise sharply across the state.
On Monday, officials in Marathon County said cases there are coming in faster than the county can handle. It urged people who are sick or have been exposed to the virus to stay at home to help stem the spread of the illness.
While many of the new cases are in young people, Dr. Ryan Andrews of Aspirus Wausau Hospital said it’s a matter of time until it impacts older populations.
“I think that’s a sign it’s going to hit the older population as well,” he said. “It really will work through our population and it will affect different people differently.”
Selner said she’ll continue to adapt to what’s happening around her and her family.
“I think we’re all learning as we go,” she said. “It’s trying to develop new routines so you can minimize stress. When you don’t have the routines and don’t know what to expect, that’s when anxiety starts up.”
Hamann said what most people are looking for is hope.
“If we look at history, pandemics always end,” she said. “But’s hard when you’re in the middle, you can’t see the end and can’t see things getting better.”