COVID and summer fun may clash once again

“Revenge travel” is back, and so are increasing COVID-19 infections.

Memorial Day kicks off the coming summer season and there’s a sense that people are feeling they can break free of the pandemic constraints and enjoy life much as they had before.

It’s not a new feeling, given the ebb and flow of the pandemic’s severity, but there’s the notion that folks have more gusto about it this time around.

The term “revenge travel” surfaced last year and is making the rounds again on social media in travel stories, even though those words seem at odds with the excitement and fun associated with vacation trips.

Some travel industry officials avoid the term but they note people increasingly are making plans to travel in the U.S. and abroad — as if with a vengeance to make up for lost time and delayed trips over the past two years. Demand and inf lation are driving up prices, which may give some potential travelers pause, but volume is still expected to be up.

Airline executives predict that U.S. airports will process 3 million travelers on a single day for the first time ever this summer, according to The Hill.

It’s hard to say now how much of a damper, if any, the rising cases of coronavirus and worsening projections for San Diego and most everywhere will put on that.

The rise in COVID-19 transmissions has burst into the top headlines lately, but it doesn’t seem to be permeating the public consciousness much, at least not yet. On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended masks be worn in indoor public settings by the onethird of Americans who live in areas where the threat of infection is high.

Still, health experts and public officials mostly are

issuing measured words of caution, not dire warnings. Gov. Gavin Newsom even sounded reassuring as California experiences an increase in cases and hospitalizations.

“We have a plan. A smarter plan to put out an endemic plan as we turn the page from the pandemic to endemic,” he said on Wednesday in Bakersfield upon receiving his second Moderna booster vaccine at a health clinic.

The state is looking at a targeted approach to bolster prevention in what Newsom called “concentrated areas of focus” by providing more vaccines, COVID tests and masks.

There’s a precarious balancing act between pushing health measures and dealing with public opinion, both of which have been affected by past experience, growing knowledge of the coronavirus, and the development of vaccines and medications that provide protection and treatment.

Nevertheless, the course of action now seems as much about political will as public health protection. And like it or not, election-year politics also may factor into the equation.

Another move toward re-enacting preventative measures — such as mask mandates — or restrictions on what people can do or where they can go aren’t going to be accepted by those who opposed or ignored them in the first place. It has also been plainly evident that even those who weren’t obstinate are tired of living under the coronavirus cloud and want at least a bit of carefree fun in the sun.

Vaccines and other treatments have made living with the virus much more doable than before, even as the COVID-19 death toll just surpassed 1 million.

Regardless, the best way to get ahead of a surge that seems to be happening now is by taking action early on. But in places like San Diego, where COVID-19 hospitalizations remain relatively low and the illness isn’t omnipresent, it’s a tall order to get people to take what they may view as disruptive precautions when they don’t see a problem.

Coronavirus pandemic history has shown rising cases, hospitalizations and deaths lag those early warnings.

Masks have proved to be an effective, easy, first step to stem transmission of the virus and its variants, even among the vaccinated. But nobody wants to go through that ugly battle over mandating masks again unless a crisis is clear. By then, of course, much of the damage has already been done.

Some aren’t waiting for things to get worse.

The Pacific Grove Unified School District in Monterey County reinstated a mask mandate last week. Apple delayed plans to require workers to come back to the office three days a week because of the coronavirus resurgence. The Biden administration just made a third round of free COVID-19 test kits available through the U.S. Postal Service.

The Encinitas City Council just went back to virtual public meetings.

It could turn out that the current increase in transmissions will be limited and summer won’t be so bad. Some experts are forecasting a major surge in the fall and winter, with perhaps 100 million Americans infected as immunity wanes and people move activities indoors.

This past winter surge driven by the Omicron variant wasn’t as severe as some anticipated. But with continuing virus mutations, there’s concern the vaccines may be less effective against new variants. Union-tribune health writer Paul Sisson reported on Thursday that a new variant found in San Diego known as B.4 has been known to “evade immune protection” whether from vaccination or prior infection.

However, local health experts told Sisson that B.4 appears to be a milder version of the virus along the lines of Omicron, rather than the more deadly Delta strain.

Eventually, we’ll find out whether summer travel and social gatherings exacerbate rising COVID-19 transmissions.

People hitting the road or boarding a plane to a faraway destination may not be doing so with reckless abandon, yet many seem to be acting on pent-up desires, according to some travel industry experts.

“It’s another way of saying, ‘Hey, life is short. I want to book that trip. I want to spend more time with family. I want to connect with humanity and with nature. I want to explore the world and seek experiences that make me feel alive,’” Erika Richter, vice president of the American Society of Travel Advisors told CNN.

Hopefully, they’ll pack some of those COVID tests before they take off.

Tweet of the Week

Goes to Conor Dougherty (@Conordougherty), Oakland-based New York Times reporter and Uniontribune alum.

“One thing I have already learned about LA is that if I’m going to the beach I’d rather drive to San Diego than Santa Monica.”

michael.smolens@ sduniontribune.com