How and if we can learn to live with COVID

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Yes, the immunocompromised are understandably unhappy about society tearing up all the Covid restrictions, and it's a shame there isn't more sympathy for them out there. I guess once again we see evidence that there's a limit to some people's compassion for the vulnerable. OTOH, I don't think masks do a great deal to make a given individual safe. I think they're mostly encouraged in order to bring down the "community viral load" a little, which translates to slightly less pressure on the health services. But if it's unsafe to be around the unmasked, it's almost as unsafe to be around the masked.

California on Thursday laid out a plan that manage Covid as a permanent aspect of life, anticipating future surges and new variants that may require public health measures such as facemasks depending on how much the virus is disrupting economic and social activity.

California Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said the state’s response will depend on the dominant Covid variant circulating at any given time, how much disease the variant is causing, and how many people are hospitalized by the strain.

Ghaly did not provide specific triggers that would result in the imposition of public health measures. He said a more deadly variant might require California to focus on infection numbers, while a less virulent strain may demand a focus on hospitalization numbers.

Ghaly said California will probably experience seasonal Covid surges in the fall and winter, and the state will closely monitor whether those surges are caused by new variants of concern or familiar ones. The health secretary said the state would impose measures such as masks if the particular Covid strain is causing serious disruptions to hospitals and businesses.

“There may need to be a time when we all wear masks to get through certain situations, so we don’t overwhelm our healthcare delivery system or cripple our businesses,” Ghaly said.

The response plan aims to use wastewater surveillance to detect rising viral transmission early, so the state can rapidly sequence new variants as they emerge and determine within 45 days if vaccines, tests and therapeutics are effective against the strain. The state would quickly deploy additional testing and surge health-care staff to regions impacted by rising transmission, according to the plan.

California plans to have capacity to administer at least 500,000 Covid tests and 200,000 vaccines daily, as well as surge health-care staff by 3,000 within two to three weeks. The state will stockpile 75 million high-quality masks, thousands of ventilators, and procure another 30 million over-the-counter Covid tests, according to Ghaly.

California will also focus on keeping people updated on their vaccines, particularly children who only recently became eligible as well as the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, Ghaly said.

So the minority the immune compromised are just sunk ….

The idea that Americans are tired of the pandemic has become conventional wisdom, with important policy implications. Democratic governors in blue states like New Jersey and California have rolled back mask mandates, citing the importance of “normalcy.” But is “normal” what Americans really expect? And what does “normal” even mean, anyway?

A recent Monmouth University poll found that 70 percent of Americans agreed with the statement, “It’s time we accept that Covid is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives.” This poll got a lot of attention — it was featured in The New York Times, The Hill and other outlets, and was even discussed in a recent episode of FiveThirtyEight’s Politics podcast. It’s not an outlier, either. A Feb. 11-13 poll from Harris found that 71 percent of Americans agreed with the statement, “We will be living with COVID in some form forever.”

At this point, most Americans believe COVID-19 will persist into the near (or distant) future, but what that means to people’s daily lives is the subject of much more dissent. That’s because understanding COVID-19 as an ongoing reality means something different to everyone.

For some, it means going back to pre-pandemic life, without mask mandates, vaccine requirements or other public health measures to contain the spread of the virus. But that’s not what it means to most, according to a Feb. 4-7 Axios/Ipsos poll, in which just 21 percent of Americans said we should “get back to life as usual with no coronavirus mandates or requirements.” To be sure, 29 percent thought we should move toward that goal with some precautions, while 23 percent wanted to mostly keep precautions in place and 21 percent wanted to increase precautions. Part of the reason opinion is so divided is that Americans are simultaneously ready and not-ready to go back to pre-pandemic life. Over three-quarters of Americans said they were “ready to return to normal”, according to a Feb. 12-15 poll from The Economist/YouGov. And yet the Axios/Ipsos poll showed that 54 percent thought doing so posed a large or moderate risk.

What Americans want regarding COVID-19 is all over the place. And there’s only so much the polls can tell you. For instance, they can’t list every public health response to COVID-19, much less every combination of responses. But polls show that support is shifting more toward individual precautions than toward COVID-19 protections mandated for society at large.

And Americans seem to be OK with being more cautious in their personal decisions. That is, they’re more willing to undergo measures like mask-wearing or vaccinations for themselves, though they may not want to institute it as a requirement.

Support for mask mandates is mixed. In the aforementioned Harris poll, 55 percent of Americans strongly or somewhat agreed that it was time to lift indoor mask mandates. But the Monmouth poll found that 52 percent supported statewide mask and social-distancing guidelines, though this figure is down from 55 percent in December and from 63 percent in September. Likewise, according to Axios/Ipsos, support for local and statewide mask mandates in all public places tended to fluctuate inside a somewhat narrow range of 60 percent to 67 percent, with the greatest support roughly correlated to the peaks of the delta and omicron waves. But one thing is clear: Even if Americans are backing mask mandates less, most still say they would wear a mask indoors. The Harris poll also found that 69 percent of Americans were at least somewhat likely to keep wearing masks indoors now that indoor mask mandates were being lifted, and for those living in places with mask mandates, 58 percent said they would continue to occasionally mask up once those requirements were removed, according to The Economist/YouGov.

One reason support for vaccine and mask mandates may be falling is that the public simply doesn’t trust the government to handle the pandemic correctly. Approval ratings for hospitals’ and medical centers’ responses to COVID-19 were still very high, according to Pew, but approval ratings for President Biden, public health officials and elected officials in state and local governments all declined by double digits since March 2020. In fact, Pew found a significant decline in the approval rating for state elected officials, from a high of 70 percent in March 2020 to a low of 46 percent in January 2022. This may be why governors in particular are pushing for a return to normal.

Pew also found that shifting public health guidelines have led to an increasing share of Americans who feel confused or less confident in public officials’ recommendations. After almost two years of dealing with the pandemic, Americans may trust their own decision-making more than guidance from the government.

Gone, too, are the days of declaring a “full-scale wartime effort” until the virus is “vanquished.” Instead, there’s more acceptance among Americans that the pandemic is probably here to stay in some form. What this means, though, has been the subject of so much debate that it’s unsurprising that so many Americans are uncertain about what actions should be taken on a broader scale to address the pandemic. Regulating their individual actions — and expressing their discontent — may really be the only thing under their control.

In the past, if people were expected to do something and they were afraid, the response of "suck it up and do your duty" is something I would have associated more with the Right. I would have expected the Left to have more understanding and compassion for their feelings. But in this case, the Left associates fear of taking the vaccine with THE ENEMY and responds to it that way.

The coronavirus forced Christopher Riley, a 53-year-old with blood cancer who lives in London, to strike a balance in the pursuit of normalcy. He would grab flowers from the buckets next to the entrance of a supermarket, but keep it quick. He went to Tate Modern, but on an early weekday morning. He would cook for friends, but only a small group who had all taken Covid tests.

Those accommodations allowed Mr. Riley to maintain something of a normal life as the virus roared through Britain, even though his condition meant that his immune system was compromised.

But now, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that he was scrapping the coronavirus restrictions in England, Mr. Riley and other vulnerable people are afraid that even scaled-back activities will be too risky, leaving them further isolated even as the country opens up for most people.

“Now I can’t see how we can move forward into a sort of normality,” he said, adding that the new approach will push him more into his house. “There is nothing there to protect us.”

A return to regular life was at the heart of Mr. Johnson’s decision to roll back the remainder of England’s legally enforceable coronavirus restrictions, in what has been described as an effort to live with the virus. People who are infected will no longer have to isolate and most testing will no longer be free.

“We must chart a course back towards normality as rapidly as possible,” Mr. Johnson said during a news conference on Monday.

For Clare Dawson, that path had just been interrupted.

“If there was someone walking around the streets whom you knew might kill you, would you go out?” said Ms. Dawson, 41, who lives in London and has a chronic lung disease that puts her at greater risk of severe consequences from Covid-19.

Gemma Peters, the chief executive of Blood Cancer U.K., a charity that funds research into blood cancer, said that after the prime minister’s announcement, its hotline was overwhelmed with calls from cancer patients asking what the new rules meant for them and whether it would be safe for them to go out.

“We can’t answer all the calls,” Ms. Peters said. “People use language like, ‘Society doesn’t care if I die,’ and I think that is the feeling — that they are kind of collateral damage.”

The British government said in a news conference that it would continue to protect the most vulnerable with targeted vaccinations and treatments, and that free tests would still be available for vulnerable people, but it acknowledged that lifting the remaining legal curbs would most likely cause a rise in cases.

“Keeping free testing for the vulnerable? That’s too late,” said Trishna Bharadia, 42, who has multiple sclerosis and has been largely isolating at home in Buckinghamshire, England, for the past two years. “The aim should be to prevent the vulnerable from getting Covid in the first place.”

Ms. Bharadia said she and her family watched Mr. Johnson’s news conference on Monday in the living room from where they have watched virtual weddings, funerals, and birthday parties they haven’t been able to attend for the past two years.

Ceinwen Giles, 47, who developed an immune deficiency after her cancer treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said that her 12-year-old daughter would continue to go to school, but is anxious about the likelihood that she may be sitting next to children who might be infected.

“This is how we have to live,” said Ms. Giles, who is also joint chief executive of Shine Cancer Support, a charity for young adults with cancer. “And no one seems to care.”

Whether or not their condition forced them to take health precautions even before the pandemic, in the last two years many clinically vulnerable people have been forced into nearly total isolation, and even more so as mandates and restrictions have dropped around them.

“You feel different again,” said Ms. Dawson, adding that the new approach from the government had made her feel more alone in the face of the virus and forced to adopt her own precautions, stripped of the equalizing effect of rules.

Ultimately, people with health conditions understand the desire for life to return to normal, and say they are not asking for draconian restrictions.

Thousands of Long Island children went to school without masks Wednesday, but others were still wearing them as the hotly contested state mandate for face coverings came to an end after two years of pandemic restrictions and disruptions.

Many students arrived with smiles on their faces, which classmates could see — some for the first time since they started prekindergarten. But others, and their parents, were walking to school Wednesday morning with masks on, a sign that concerns about COVID-19 persist.

One father who didn't want to be named said he was thrilled masks were no longer required. He said he had kept his son home, learning remotely, so he wouldn’t have to wear a mask in school.

Some school leaders, parents and medical experts contended Gov. Kathy Hochul should have waited before lifting the mandate.

Cristina Arroyo, of Valley Stream, said she sent both of her children to school wearing masks.

"We had a talk about this," said Arroyo, whose kids attend South High School and Robert W. Carbonaro Elementary School. "We decided they will keep on masks for the time being and see how things go."

Arroyo said she's concerned about a possible spike in COVID-19 cases after the winter break, which was last week.

"I do realize cases have been going down, but for the last two years there has been a spike after school vacations," she said. "We haven’t gotten COVID … so it’s not worth it, and the kids didn’t complain at all."

Dan Frankenberry, 18, a senior at Garden City High School, was so excited about masks becoming optional that he and some friends started a countdown Tuesday.

Myles Rambeau, a seventh-grader at Weldon E. Howitt Middle School in Farmingdale, said he was excited he didn’t have to wear a mask to school, especially because he finds it a little hard to breathe when wearing one. He estimated 60% of the students decided to wear them on Wednesday.

"I like how it’s freedom for each person," said Rambeau, 13, who lives in Farmingdale. "Most of my friends weren’t wearing masks. It’s nice I get to see their real faces."

Troy Rambeau, Myles’ father, said they will still keep masks on hand and be careful around vulnerable family members.

At Valley Stream Central High School, Mahek Ghotra, 17, said most of the students in her class wore a mask, as did she.

Ghotra said she will continue to wear the mask but plans to reevaluate in the coming weeks.

Before Wednesday, school officials had advised students to be respectful of those who choose to wear a mask and those who do not.

There is an interesting connection between HIV and Covid, both are negative wrt to Fauci's actions.

Why is it the same people who aren't worried about spreading Covid are the same people who were terrified they could catch AIDS through casual contact?

I have always thought the mandates for children were unnecessary especially since the vaccines became widely available.
Out of 914,259 total U.S. deaths only 970 of them have been people between the ages of 0 and 18. That is 0.0010609685 percent of deaths.

Kids can still get Long Covid, though.

Dunno. Clearly by getting shut of social distancing etc., society is rendering the world a more dangerous place for the immunocompromised, and putting its own interests before theirs.

But society has always pretty much ignored their needs with regard to every other contagious disease, so it's not an unprecedented thing, not a qualitative change. I guess there's a limit to what pains normal people are willing to take in order to avoid putting others at risk or messing up their lives. Difficult to know what could be done to make things any better, even with the best will in the world.