Hopefully nobody partook in large, unmasked Halloween gatherings this past Saturday, but we all know that a lot of people went about their festivities as normal. People are more worried about dressing up on Halloween than “flattening the curve” of the pandemic. You remember that phrase, right? It seems to have evaporated into oblivion despite the fact that the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. has never been worse. 

What’s the hardest thing to see are the Instagram or Snapchat stories of our friends blatantly ignoring this pandemic and partying on Halloween. It’s as if people don’t even care anymore – not even to the point of being worried about how you’ll be viewed on social media. It’s blatant disregard for the lives of more than 230,000 – people’s friends, family members – that have died because of negligence toward COVID-19. 

With Orange County averaging 222.3 new cases and 5.6 new deaths per day over the past week as of Nov. 1, we seem to have completely lost our sense of urgency and severity towards this pandemic. What happened?

The virus is controlling how families who have lost loved ones go about their everyday life. The virus is controlling those who can’t even go to the hospital because they are simply overcrowded. It’s controlling the lives of the elderly, those with underlying health conditions and essential healthcare workers who watch people die every day. Yet it doesn’t seem to be controlling 20-year-olds who want to shotgun White Claws and dance in sweaty, packed rooms. 

We’re just continuing to outdo ourselves, more than the 89,000 reports of positive COVID-19 diagnoses – breaking the country’s daily case record Oct. 29. Our society is becoming more cavalier about the whole situation, numb to it even. If you shame others for not having a social life because they are trying to be safe or if you parade your youth as a shield, you’re part of the problem.

There’s a common thread between people who claim this whole situation is no big deal. These ideologies come from those privileged enough to possess the socioeconomic resources to flaunt their comfort, with the ability to receive expensive medical care and constant access to testing. They’ll probably be fine. But that gives a false, misguided sense of security to the people who don’t have the means to spend money on hospital bills or work from home.

It’s hard to hear this again. We get it. No one wants to be faced with these morbid realities. But honestly, suck it up and stay home – unless you want to be the person that unknowingly killed someone’s grandparent because you went to a party and became an asymptomatic carrier. 

Over 230,000 deaths. These are war-level numbers. Just because there is no face, entity or terrorist organization attributed to our opponent doesn't mean it isn't a real threat. Whether you like it or not, this virus isn’t going to magically disappear. We have to be better about slowing the spread. We’re supposed to be all in this together.

Remember when we used to say that?