I was writing earlier in this thread (based on some history of pandemics thing I read but can't locate anymore) that previous pandemics, including the 1918 flu pandemic, pretty much ended because people got fed up of restrictions and decided to just ignore it. Electing governments that oppose measures and the like. Usually about 2 years in. History is essentially repeating. I fully expect COVID to take about 4-5 years, when all's said and done, to become truly endemic. We can certainly "live with it", using all the tools we have and having pretty much no shut downs anymore, but ignoring it and moving on shouldn't be the way forward.
I was just hearing reading some stories and watching news reports on the local NBC station about America moving on and leaving those with disabilities or are at high risk on their own to fend for themselves.
When it comes to mask mandates, both locally and nationally they are being lifted. There are two narratives I am seeing about this.
The minority / unpopular opinion: Lifting the mask mandates is more of a political move than a public health move. When it comes numbers, were infections are still high rivaling the peak of the delta variant it makes no sense lifting mask mandates so early.
The popular opinion: We are seeing a downward trend in new cases. ICU's are not full and overall Omnicron is milder for vaccinated adults. It's common sense that we should be lifting the mandates and start returning to normal. We can't keep mandates in place forever.
So basically, we can forget about Covid and return to normal if we are seeing a downward trend. But with cases still high won't this just help it bounce back or new variants to form?
Yesterday New Hampshire's state senate passed a bill that would ban all future hybrid or remote learning in public schools with the exception of for weather (snow day). Meanwhile, they did not pass a school lunch bill that would require students to get a 30 minute lunch break with at least 20 minutes to sit down and eat. It's like they don't care about the students well being.
Massachusetts Republican governor already put an end to remote / hybrid learning last year via executive order saying all kids must be in school in person. He is also lifting the mask mandate for public schools on February 28th.
This has lead to a lot of parents asking their towns or schools to impose their own mask mandate to protect their high risk kid or high risk family members. But they are making no progress and being forced to pull their kids out of school to be homeschooled. No one at the city or school board level wants to impose a mask mandate citing it's not needed by current guidelines. This is leaving students behind who are at high risk to fend for themselves. The parent of a student in MA who has cystic fibrosis is saying they are basically saying their child is an acceptable loss to return to normal. And that it has to be a violation of ADA and hope it can be challenged through the ADA. For now, they are forced to pull their child out of public schools.
Boston lifted their proof of vaccination mandate yesterday. Last night's Bruins game was the first game / event at the TD Garden in Boston since the start of the pandemic where proof of vaccination was not needed. NBC Boston interviews a lot of hockey fans about this and most are saying stuff like "It's about time". Only one 20 something girl said it makes her feel uncomfortable and that the decision sounds to be made more over money than public health. Masks are still required in Boston with the exception of when eating or drinking. The TD Garden lifted the proof of vaccination required along with the city citing they are following the cities guidelines.
Boston is one of the last holdouts in MA that still has a mask mandate. Salem ended theirs on 2/9.
Over the weekend when I went to the mall with my family, most stores said mask are strongly encouraged. What I noticed. Most store employees were not wearing masks. Most white / 30 something plus people were not wearing masks. Young adults, Asians and Hispanics were where you saw people wearing masks.
As I mentioned earlier in this thread, Salem was 1 of 3 cities in MA who had a vaccination proof mandate. It was lifting along with the mask mandate on 02/09/2022. Salem's economy was hurt big time by the mandate. It alianted the locals. People from around the North Shore in MA stopped coming to Salem and the city gotta rep of being overly liberal and a place to avoid. People were done with mandates, and showed it with their wallets.
www.nbcnews.com
