On Sunday I was at a gathering to study a new message from the Universal House of Justice, which was very enlightening and uplifting. Unfortunately, on Monday we heard someone at that gathering had COVID.

According to the CDC, if you encounter someone with COVID and are not vaccinated and boosted, it is advised you quarantine for 5 days. This is because if you do contract COVID-19, even if you don’t show symptoms, it can take 5 days before a test will provide accurate results.

I am vaccinated and boosted, and was wearing a mask and distancing during the gathering in question, but I have still decided to essentially quarantine while I wait to take a test after 5 days. The main reason I have decided to be so cautious is because there is still so much not understood about the new Omicron variant, and even vaccinated and boosted people have contracted breakthrough cases.

I don’t feel sick and, even if I do have it, I will probably be fine. Still, I’m taking this extremely cautious course of action because, ultimately, I have to take accountability for my actions. If I did pass COVID to other people in my life, or even strangers in a store or office setting, I would have to live with the knowledge that my decisions led to transmission of an extremely contagious disease into the broader population and that if that continuation led to the disease reaching a vulnerable person, it may kill or serious hurt them. My decisions have consequences when it comes to COVID and it would be very difficult to live with myself if I knew that I had not taken proper precautions after hearing that I had been exposed.

Quarantining for 5 days is reminiscent of much of 2020. It kind of ruins whatever plans I had for service and social activity for the week, but I’m realizing this is the risk we take when socializing in large groups at this moment in history. Moving forward, I do plan on socializing one-on-one with people who I know are vaccinated and generally being careful about COVID. But I think I will be avoiding large group settings. Even when people are being careful, the risk is high right now, and quarantining for a full week is an inconvenience, so I think it’s important to be thoughtful about how many people I see at a time.

With that said, I do think in-person contact is valuable and shouldn’t be given up entirely. It’s all about being thoughtful during this period and making decisions as situations require.