Covid Normal

As I've said a million times, there's sweet spot between "mask mandates" and "telling everyone to rip off their masks and go back to the face-licking parties at Applebees, and anyone who doesn't do this is a weirdo shut-in" and that is, basically, remove the mask mandates most places and say, "but please mask up if you are able in indoor settings."

The plan for a next wave, if there is one (likely!), is "lol lmao nothing," but I guess if they're managing to pretend 1000 deaths per day aren't happening, why not go for 4000 daily.

The changes were based on a new framework designed to protect communities from the worst, a surge so big that it might overwhelm local hospitals, while being less disruptive to everyday life, amid falling case counts and a desire among many for relief from masking and other public health measures. But some worry it leaves the country unprepared for another wave and abandons those who are most vulnerable.

...

The plan’s adequacy may soon be tested if the United States sees the same sharp increase in coronavirus cases now bedeviling Europe, a possibility federal officials are anticipating. If such increases lead some communities to be reclassified as red, it remains an open question whether state and local officials would be willing to reinstate controversial indoor masking guidelines. There may be little political appetite for such measures, even in Democratic areas.

...

“Convincing a large swath of the population to put masks back on will be very difficult,” said Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The thing is, I don't think it would be that difficult in a lot of places, if they would stop thinking substack is real life. Opposition to mask wearing has been a red state/conservative area and elite journalist thing. Endless pieces about how mask wearers are fucking weirdos.

Also, boosters matter a lot, especially as immunity is waning for everybody, and it seems that part of the "pretending covid is gone" plan is "giving up on a big booster campaign."

EU countries (most, all?) won't consider you to be fully vaccinated if your last shot was more than 9 months ago, so I expect some international travelers will be surprised soon...