CHICAGO — Like so many COVID-weary Americans, Kyle Hopwood thought the pandemic was winding down over the summer, as virus case counts in the Chicago area waned and life seemed to inch closer to normal.
She was relieved after getting vaccinated against COVID-19, and tentatively began dining at restaurants and resuming small get-togethers with loved ones. Hopwood and her fiance set a wedding date for September 2022, assuming that by then the pandemic would be a distant memory.
But then came colder weather — as well as the highly contagious omicron variant of the virus — and infections soared once again, wreaking havoc on holiday celebrations, businesses, travel, education and health care.
“We thought we saw the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Hopwood, 29, of the Lincoln Park neighborhood, who has a master’s degree in public health. “Now we’re back to square one.”
In some ways, Hopwood has found this latest surge to be even more draining mentally and emotionally compared with earlier points in the pandemic, which has killed more than 5 million people around the world.
While she’s planning her wedding for later this year, she said “it’s hard to get excited with so much uncertainty.”
“You’re not alone in feeling what you’re feeling, if you are feeling angry or anxious,” she said. “Your feelings are valid. I think we’re all frustrated.”
Roughly four dozen readers shared with the Chicago Tribune their struggles and worries during this latest COVID-19 surge, which has temporarily shut down many schools, filled hospitals to near capacity and spurred a wave of new local COVID-19 vaccine mandates for restaurants, bars, gyms, theaters and other indoor public venues.
Some expressed dismay at the unpredictable nature of the virus, citing uncertainty about how cases might ebb or spike, as well as bewilderment amid ever-changing public health guidelines. Others described exhaustion due to the duration of the pandemic, wondering when it will finally end.
Many reported heightened anxiety and fatigue as the pandemic stretches into its third year, once again upending so many aspects of daily life.
“I’ve been home with my 8-year-old for one and a half years due to her heart condition,” said one parent who responded to a Tribune survey about the surge. “Was hoping she’d be able to go back to school now that she’s vaccinated, but due to the surge — and only 30% of 5-to-11-year-olds being vaccinated, which means 2 out of 3 are NOT vaccinated — we are going to wait. Her health and safety are number one.”
“I am the (human resources) manager for a company of 370 people and I feel like I am in a pressure cooker and have been for the past two years,” one woman responded. “Feels like whatever I do I’m fighting people and with this new surge it’s constant. You have to deal with the ignorant people who don’t want to mask up or get vaccinated and think this is a joke, and it’s infuriating as you see people around you getting sick. What happened to being considerate of others?”
“I am so dismayed by the readiness with which our leaders have chucked out these essential workers who helped us get through the pandemic,” said a local social worker, referencing workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and adding in the survey that she recently lost her job after refusing to get vaccinated. “Most recently, many have been banned from public places, leaving them to wonder where they will get their social interaction.”
As local COVID-19 case counts continue to set pandemic records, here are the experiences of a few more Chicago-area workers, parents and business owners, as told to Tribune reporters.
‘Inevitable’
When the first coronavirus cases were reported in Illinois in January 2020, Maggie Coons was determined to do anything she could to protect her family from the new virus.
But now, with the omicron variant spreading so quickly, she’s almost resigned that eventually they will get sick despite taking precautions like vaccinating, getting booster shots and masking.
So many of her friends and relatives and neighbors have caught COVID recently, even those who have been very careful throughout the pandemic.
During the first week of the new year, the state averaged 28,775 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 per day, including 42,903 new cases reported Jan. 7. That’s up from an average of 19,797 daily cases during the final week of 2021, a 45% increase.
Deaths also are rising again, with state health officials last Friday reporting 101 additional fatalities, the second consecutive day with a triple-digit death toll. The state has recorded 444 coronavirus-related deaths since Jan. 1, more than in the entire month of June or July.
“It’s so much more contagious,” said Coons, 52, of northwest suburban Palatine. “I feel like there’s nothing we can do to keep from getting it. I feel like it’s inevitable. At this point it’s a dreary resignation instead of a dread or fear.”
While she knows infections from the new variant have generally been milder, particularly for the fully vaccinated, she’d rather her loved ones not get ill.
“It still could mean weeks of school missed or work,” she said. “And who knows if it’s going to produce long-haul symptoms. They don’t know yet.”
One silver lining of this point in the pandemic is that there are more tools to fight the virus, from vaccines to boosters to medications, she said.
But she’s frustrated that so many people are still forgoing COVID-19 shots, the greatest protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death.
“It’s extremely infuriating,” she said. “It’s the reason this has gone on for so long. They’re putting their personal freedoms above what’s best for everyone.”
Restaurant woes
More than three decades ago, Gloria Torres and her husband opened a little restaurant in their home in the Pilsen neighborhood.
Right next to the small kitchen where Torres prepares homemade Mexican delicacies, they served patrons at their dinner table covered in a colorful tablecloth.
Torres is 72 and her husband is 82. They’ve managed to keep their business open throughout the pandemic, despite their fear of catching the virus, which has so far infected more than 2.3 million in Illinois and 300 million internationally.
The restaurant industry has taken a tremendous hit amid the pandemic, facing waves of indoor dining shutdowns and staff shortages. At certain points, government regulations allowed only takeout or delivery food orders.
Over the summer, their worries about getting the COVID-19 eased a little after they got vaccinated. Their hope for normalcy revived when cases began to drop and city regulations allowed them to once again fully reopen and welcome customers inside their kitchen for dining.
But the most recent surge has discombobulated the couple and their home business.
New rules in Chicago and suburban Cook County require proof of vaccination at restaurants and many other indoor public venues, a heavy burden on the couple, who live alone and have no help to check vaccine cards and identification.
To keep their business going while complying with regulations, they’ve decided to switch to only offering carryout because the vaccine mandate exempts those quickly picking up food as opposed to dining inside.
“We’re just so sad,” Torres said in Spanish. “This is again affecting the poor people, the small business owners.”
School uncertainty
For thousands of Chicago-area families, abrupt school cancellations or a switch to remote learning have thrown education and child care into a tailspin.
An impasse between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union canceled several days of classes. Various suburban districts have also suspended classroom instruction due to a statewide shortage of school employees.
Teachers and school workers are out sick or need to quarantine. There aren’t enough substitutes. Even at schools that are open, so many parents and students awaken wondering if class will in session tomorrow, the next day and the day after.
The hardest part for Chris Arjona, a father of two in the Lakeview neighborhood, is the day-to-day uncertainty.
His daughters, ages 6 and 4, are in the Chicago Public Schools district, and the sudden cancellation of classes “presents the biggest challenge yet.”
“The biggest impact (of) the surge is the chaos surrounding schools,” Arjona said, adding that he and his wife work full time. “Parents are stuck in the middle to reconcile jobs that have full demands, but schools are unreliable and unpredictable.”
There’s also the emotional toll on kids, who thrive on routine and consistency, he said. They miss their friends, teachers and activities. The inability to plan and answer all the swirling questions — will classes be canceled for a few days or weeks or longer – is so hard on adults and children alike.
“The suddenness of it, the lack of warning and the lack of a clear path forward is just hard on everyone,” he said. “Citywide, it’s everyone going through this.”
‘More complexity’
The mother felt great relief when COVID-19 shots were authorized for kids aged 5 to 11 in November, and her 8-year-old daughter could finally get vaccinated.
But her son, who is 4, still can’t get inoculated against the virus, leaving him unprotected.
“I would be less distressed if both my kids were vaccinated,” said Liza Papautsky, 42, who lives in the western suburbs.
In some ways, the earliest days of the pandemic were easier for her because there were fewer decisions to make with so much of the world on lockdown. Now every choice feels like a difficult and complicated burden.
Only part of her household is vaccinated, and Papautsky is a breast cancer survivor, putting her at higher risk. Yet she also has to take into account her family’s mental health and well-being.
Should she have her unvaccinated son in a swim class where he and other unvaccinated kids won’t be able to wear a mask? She ultimately opted against it, but then there’s also the toll on kids that comes with limiting outside activities and contact with their peers.
“This surge is a painful punch in the gut, deflating (and) dejecting, especially after a period of a more hopeful time,” she said. “I’m tired, angry, and hopeless.”
She’s concerned about the health of her family, but she’s also worried about passing along the virus to others and further overwhelming health care systems.
As of Jan. 6, more than 7,000 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19; more than a thousand were in intensive care units and over 600 were on ventilators, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Local children’s hospitals have also recently seen a huge spike in kids admitted for COVID-19.
“It’s navigating the uncertainty and then making the best decision you can in the midst of all this uncertainty,” she said. “Especially right now, in the moment we’re in, having to revisit those decisions frequently.”
‘Will we survive?’
In January 2020, Nereida Aparacio made her longtime dream a reality when she opened her nail salon in the Pilsen neighborhood with the help of her daughter, Rubi Carmona.
The family had invested all their savings in the new business. The two were optimistic and excited for their venture — until the coronavirus-spurred March 2020 lockdown forced them and other businesses to temporarily close.
“Sentía que el mundo se me venía encima,” said Aparicio, who had worked as a nail technician for over a decade in different salons around the Chicago area. “I felt like that world was coming down on me.”
But they chose to remain strong, said Carmona, who is now a senior at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
She recalled the tension and anxiety her mother went through when they were forced to shut down the salon. Now she’s stressed again at the prospect of losing salon clientele amid the latest surge.
“It’s frustrating and tiring,” Carmona said.
She’s had to handle the pressures of the business while navigating her last year in college via remote learning. She takes care of all the salon’s administrative work for her mother even as she manages her own difficulties with online classes for her biology degree.
“We almost feel like we’re going back to step one, and it’s forcing us to think about what we would do next,” Carmona said. “Will we survive?”
Holidays disrupted
So many of Eric DeChant’s relatives and close friends had COVID-19 recently that his family canceled their Christmas dinner celebration.
He said as many as a dozen people in his inner circle have tested positive in recent weeks.
“We were going to spend time with friends on New Year’s Eve,” he said. “It got canceled.”
The 43-year-old father of two from the Oriole Park neighborhood said this surge has affected nearly every aspect of his life, from work to school to vacations and social gatherings.
“It’s like, should we leave the state?” he said. “Should we go to this museum? Is it that dangerous? I don’t know.”
In addition to his work as a legal engineer for a software company, DeChant also helps carpool his daughter and area classmates to school following a CPS school bus driver shortage.
DeChant said the surge has even intruded on his main respite from the troubled world: a nearby health club with hot tubs and a lap pool where he went to relax.
“I love hot tubs,” he said. “In the aquatic section, you can’t wear a mask, so it’s the biggest infection hazard. I normally would have spent a decent amount of time there relaxing or rejuvenating over the winter break … but I did not just out (of fear) that I bring something home.”
Despite the all-encompassing effect the surge has had on his family’s life, DeChant said he still looks to the positive.
“It’s stressful,” he said. “While this has been a very long period, it’s not as bad as other points. I have less peace of mind, but overall, I’m incredibly grateful that I can work from home. My furnace works. I’m a ‘count your blessings’ kind of guy.”
