Ellen Murphy, a 73-year-old in New York’s Brooklyn Heights who scrupulously stayed home during previous surges, will fly to her niece’s Florida baby shower next month.

“Maybe this is some level of magical thinking, but I’ve done everything that I’ve been told to do,” she said. “I got my shots, I got my booster, I wear my mask, I don’t go into crowded places with people I don’t know. It’s kind of like, what else can I do?”

Data from businesses and social media and interviews across the nation show a population accommodating COVID-19. Several factors have caused people to rethink: Omicron spreads so readily that catching it can seem all but inevitable for everyone but hermits. Inoculations and previous infections lower risk of severe disease. And it has been a very long two years of putting off get-togethers and trips.

Recent numbers show the desire to break free: The people-connecting platform Meetup reports that RSVPs were up 22 percent nationally in the first week of this month compared with a year ago — 20 percent even in careful New York City. Restaurant traffic suggests that dining out lost ground when omicron hit, but it has begun to rebound in the past week. In San Francisco, mobility data show that even with a recent omicron-period drop, residents are spending less time hunkered down.