What risks are you willing to take as Hamilton opens up?

For April Almeida and her 16-year-old daughter, even going to the orthodontist feels risky.

Almeida's other daughter has an auto-immune illness, putting her at higher risk for serious sickness due to COVID-19.

In recent weeks, as the Ontario economy has opened up and weather warmed up, Hamiltonians are eagerly leaving home, venturing out to hike, camp, play select sports and shop for non-essential items. But while exercising new-found freedom can feel rewarding, it still comes with risk.

And that process of evaluating risk versus reward - challenging at the best of times - is even more complicated during a pandemic, says University of Waterloo psychology professor Derek Koehler.

Koehler describes decision-making as interplay between thinking and feeling."

Thinking" involves assembling the facts at hand and determining if the reward is worth the risk, he said. Feeling" is more intuitive and has to do with if you feel scared or nervous.

Sometimes the two conflict.

You can know something is safe ... but it can still feel scary," Koehler said.

For instance, you might be afraid of flying, even though you know your chances of dying while driving are higher. But driving feels more familiar," he said.

Applied in COVID-19 times, visiting a grocery store while taking safety precautions can feel like a scary experience, Koehler said. Part of that is because a place that once felt familiar" now feels strange, with people wearing masks, everyone physical distancing and clerks working behind Plexiglas.

It's also tough to weigh risks when scientific research on the virus is ever-evolving, when public health guidance changes and when politicians flip-flop on loosening or tightening rules.

We, as members of the public, don't have all the knowledge we need," Koehler said. That added element of uncertainty makes things difficult for us."

Combine that with conspiracy theories that flood the internet and it can be even trickier to separate fact from fiction, he said.

For Stoney Creek resident Lori Sirianni, who lives with her older parents, she's not willing to take any unnecessary risks. Her dad is 81 and his doctor told him he won't survive if he gets COVID, she said.

You could wipe out a whole little family of three here if you infect me," Sirianni said.

She wishes others would do a better job following guidance like physical distancing. She's had to tell people off at the LCBO for standing too close, explaining to them that her parents are high risk.

For some, the virus might just feel like less of a threat.

People who have not been aware of anyone who was sick or died are starting to get cavalier," said Susie O'Brien, a McMaster University professor in the English and cultural studies department who teachers a graduate course on the cultural politics of risk. (Some think) This isn't as bad as it seems,' or Other people need to worry about this but I no longer have to.'"

People aren't wired to think how their behaviour impacts the general population, she said.

And there can be other factors at play for why people engage in perceived risky behaviour, she said, using the example of recent crowds at Trinity Bellwoods Park in Toronto. Those park-goers might not otherwise have access to green space, stuck in cramped apartments for weeks. For them, the reward of a picnic in the sun might be worth the risk of catching the virus, she said.

Almeida said it infuriates" her to see others flouting public health guidelines.

Her own family has largely been confined to their house for months.

But her daughter's orthodontic situation is a relatively pressing one - she was due to have her braces off weeks ago. When the orthodontist's office opens, Almeida says they'll break their self-isolation and go venture out, reluctantly, still with safety top of mind.

I definitely will be quizzing them before they even let us in the doors," she said.

Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com