Meet the Americans STILL in isolation, 4 years into the Covid pandemic… including a New Jersey woman who has been in lockdown for 1,620 days

For many Americans, the Covid pandemic and the draconian lockdowns that came with it feel like a thing of the past.

Biden declared a pandemic in May, but it has not been seen as a key voter issue since then.

But for some Americans, the masks and social distancing never ended.

Sara Anne Willette of New Jersey has spent more than 1,600 days in isolation, rarely leaving her home and plans to continue isolating in rural areas.

Due to her weakened immune system, she suffers from severe anxiety when even walking down the street or doing groceries, for fear of getting sick.

Sara Anne Willette (left) and Charis Hill continue to isolate, wear masks and keep their distance, four years after the Covid pandemic began

The number of Covid cases has risen in recent weeks, which experts say is likely driven by summer travel and gatherings

She was already taking precautions like wearing a mask in public before the pandemic to avoid catching germs, but since March 2020… she went to extremes

Now she and her husband want to move to the countryside to isolate themselves even further.

Charis Hill, a California resident with “high medical needs,” breaks her quarantine only once a month to meet with a group of friends who wear masks and keep their distance.

Hill, who uses the pronouns “they” and “them,” believes the state’s proposed mask ban “makes it unsafe for us to exist.”

Both patients are concerned as Covid cases rise and school starts again, yet deaths and hospitalizations are still at an all-time low.

Even with the spike, a recent YouGov poll found that only one in eight Americans still wears a mask. It’s a far cry from the 90 percent who reported wearing a mask in the second half of 2020, as mask mandates have disappeared with each new vaccine booster.

Even before the pandemic, Ms. Willette remained vigilant in public because of her condition common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), an immune disorder in which the body does not produce enough antibodies to fight infection.

The condition, which affects about 100,000 to 200,000 Americans, makes her more vulnerable to normally harmless infections such as the flu because of the lack of antibodies.

Since the start of the pandemic, Ms. Willette has taken isolation to the next level.

When her family moved from Iowa to New Jersey for her husband’s new job, they wanted to drive at night to avoid gas stations and parking lots.

The family now plans to move to the countryside to continue isolating and continue to follow strict health measures.

Her hope is to be able to garden, run and drink coffee on the porch again.

She even plans to buy enough land so that other people with compromised immune systems who are still in isolation can live in a communal space.

“I am angry that society is largely inaccessible and that I have to risk my life for the bare minimum, like medical care,” she said ABC News“Why live in a civilized world if it is completely out of reach?”

Mrs Willette and her husband are planning to move to the countryside, as they are concerned that they will not be able to isolate themselves properly in a more urban area.

Hill, pictured here with their friend Tinu Abayomi-Paul, breaks isolation only once a month to meet up with friends in a masked, socially distanced gathering.

Despite a spike in cases, deaths remain at historic lows, according to CDC data

Charis Hill was diagnosed with a systemic inflammatory disease, where the immune system overreacts to mild viruses such as colds or flu, and she takes immunosuppressive medications for this.

This makes them afraid to go to the doctor, as face masks are no longer mandatory in waiting rooms.

“The mere fact that in a medical setting, where people know what a virus can do, most medical settings no longer require masks, makes it unsafe for people like me, for anyone,” they told ABC News.

When they break their isolation once a month, they do so in a park with friends who all wear a face mask, keep their distance and have tested negative for Covid beforehand.

“That’s the only way for me to meet strangers and make friends,” Hill said.

“We need a new normal, a new normal that is fair for everyone, and that not only prioritizes people at high risk, but also reduces the number of infections overall.”

In the week of August 17, there were about 8,500 positive Covid tests, according to the most recent data, a six-fold increase from the 1,800 in May.

However, the number of infections is still well below the peak of 300,000 in January 2022, when the Omikron variant spread.

This decline is likely due to vaccines and herd immunity, as so many Americans were vaccinated earlier.

The current number of hospital admissions, approximately 10,300 people, is well below the peak of more than 100,000 in 2022, when the Omikron variant spread.

Also in the week of August 17, there were 404 deaths, less than a third of the 2,500 recorded in January this year.

In March of this year, the CDC dropped the requirement that Covid-positive patients isolate for five days before returning to work or school if symptoms are mild — cough, fatigue, sore throat, and so on.

These guidelines also apply to influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

At the time, CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said, “Our goal is to continue to protect those at risk for serious illness while reassuring people that these recommendations are simple, clear, easy to understand and follow.”