Letter to the editor: COVID still a pressing threat — protect yourself during holidays

Publisher’s note: Links provided throughout this letter for reference

Editor:

The holidays are a time for family, festivities, and – unfortunately, since we’re still in a pandemic — getting sick. Wastewater data shows there’s more COVID circulating in 2025 than in 2020.

COVID isn’t a cold or the flu – it’s a deadly, disabling, highly transmissible airborne vascular disease that damages organs, blood vessels, and every system of the body (including the immune system). Spreading with and without symptoms, COVID causes strokes, heart attacks, and a variety of neurological disorders.

With at least 1 in 5 infections causing long COVID, COVID is a pressing threat to the health and wellbeing of everybody in Mountlake Terrace. Each reinfection causes cumulative damage, greatly increasing your chances of developing Long COVID. Over 400 million people have long COVID, and it’s now the number one chronic condition in children. And 90% of long COVID cases stem from a “mild” COVID infection. Everyone is vulnerable.

To prevent getting and spreading COVID, wear N95 masks. Add further protection by opening windows and running air purifiers. Surgical masks and handwashing won’t protect you. Get vaccinated to prevent death in the acute phase of the disease, but vaccination alone won’t reliably protect against infection, transmission or long COVID.

The pandemic never ended — public health did — so it’s now up to each of us to protect ourselves and others. We’re sadly going to be living with COVID for the rest of our lives. “Living with COVID” can no longer mean “ignoring COVID” — it’s time we adapt and wear N95s to prevent needless suffering.

Adam Cickay
Mountlake Terrace