This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

My wife and I are caught in an Omicron Covid limbo as are many others around the country.

For us, the limbo is this:

• We were exposed to our son who came down with what appears to be Omicron.
• Here in La Quinta, California, we managed to stand in line to get a Covid test, but are now waiting for results.
• We wandered around town yesterday – with masks on, I emphasize – to try to find “at home Covid tests” at various pharmacies.  None was available.
• Now, like many others, we wonder how to go about life in this limbo, while our intent is to avoid infecting others if it turns out we have the virus.
• But, if there is good news, it is that neither my wife nor I have any virus symptoms, at least insofar as we – individuals without health care credentials — can tell.

Here is the way the Wall Street Journal wrote about this country-wide limbo issue this morning:

“Stephanie Chen has been working in the office in Orange County, Calif., each day, taking her 5-year-old son to school, attending church, and going about her routine for nine days, all while wondering if she is positive for Covid-19.

“When Ms. Chen learned that her cousin’s entire family tested positive for the virus after a Christmas gathering she attended with them in Orange County, pharmacies were sold out of rapid tests.  Lines exceeded two hours at a local testing site.  A Rite Aid website said no appointments were available within 50 miles of her home for at least two weeks.

“Ms. Chen, 38, who isn’t symptomatic, tried to order a home-delivered PCR test through a Los Angeles County program, but so far hasn’t even received confirmation it is on its way.  “I’m just frustrated because they’re telling us, ‘Go test, go test,’ but how do you do that if the resources aren’t available?” Ms. Chen said.”

Soaring demand around the country makes lab-based and at-home tests hard to come by, just as we found out in yesterday’s around-the-town foray.

The Biden Administration says it has ordered millions of new tests, but no one knows for sure when or how they will become available, though I add this excerpt a story in the Washington Post this morning:

“The White House is finalizing details with the U.S. Postal Service to deliver 500 million coronavirus test kits to households across the country.  The Administration will launch a website allowing individuals to request the rapid tests.  Officials aim to begin shipping the kits by mid-January.”

While the at-home tests are due to arrive fairly soon, many people, at the moment, are forsaking tests, leaving them unable to determine whether they are infected or are potentially exposing others.  

So, we remain in limbo, hoping against hope that we will find a way out soon.