Why do so many people act like and still pretend Covid has gone away?
It’s not over and people are still dying – please wear a mask guys! Because people want to think it’s over and the president said something along those lines.
You wouldn’t want to damage our economy, cause more political division, and risk local leaders going too far with mandates would you? I’m being sarcastic there, but the truth is the government, including health agencies look at the total health of the population and that includes psychological health.
Moreover, the news basically stopped reporting on covid. For most people that means it doesn’t exist anymore. Most people don’t know close to 400 people a day are still dying in the US, they don’t know that’s about 3–4 times the amount that typically die from flu and pneumonia prior to covid. They believe the vaccine is protecting people, but really the vaccinated elderly are still winding up in hospitals at a fairly high rate. I really had hoped for a cultural shift in the US to be willing to take small measures to prevent spread of respiratory infectious diseases, but no such luck. Covid isn’t going away but it’s at a point where people have to live their lives. People wear masks voluntarily now. I don’t. Of course, if I get sick, I have nobody to blame but myself and I am aware of that. Fortunately, the newest strains are like a bad cold for the majority of people. It’s a gamble, so some may end up in the hospital or dead, especially those with comorbidities, but it’s a chance people take. It got to a point on social media, at the height of the pandemic, where people were in hysterics about mask wearing, people going in certain directions in supermarkets, people staying six feet apart, and stuff like that. Customers screeching at cashiers, customers screeching at each other, people having total meltdowns. Then when the kids had to go back to school, the government made the six foot distance into a three foot distance. It made many people cynical, even though the experts were learning and adjusting things as they went because it’s a new disease and everyone was learning as they went. I no longer participate in mask debates and stuff on social media, and thankfully, there are not many any more and often, those discussions get shut down by group adminis because they go nowhere and just cause dissent. I saw Fauci recently say in an interview that the “stay at home” more extreme orders were put in place temporarily because hospitals were filling up and the healthcare needed time to get adequate quantities of PPE. I interpreted, or maybe I extrapolated, what he said as also being able to criticize governors who went far too strict for too long. Plus, a lot of people did get too hysterical about the people who refused to comply when it wasn’t very many people being so defiant. Typical that when something gets too extreme, then there is an opposite and equal reaction to the other extreme.
It did and does matter when you get sick. People who criticize the more extreme measures in places that had high infection rates in the first year aren’t paying attention. Getting sick the first year is very different from getting sick now. Now, we have vaccines, treatments, and what seems to be a less dangerous strain causing most of the cases.
I still wear a mask in a lot of situations. Edit: I wish there would be more emphasis on mask wearing on public transportation. Because while bad, it’s not the death bringer that it we feared it could be. Society/Life has to go on and most people are psychologically ok with some amount of collateral damage if it means they get to live under the illusion of relative comfort and normalcy. In the end we can’t stop this thing and a balance has to be maintained of taking precautions without damaging the economy and by extension the supply chain that we rely on to live. Covid is no longer a pandemic. It’s endemic. Everyone who wants to be (at least in my country) is vaccinated. Our therepeutic responses are quite good now. Not wearing a mask is fine at this point. When there is a particularly large spike and health care capacity is being threatened, mask use will return, but if you try to force it when it’s not needed (as it was in many places during the pandemic) all you’re going to do is erode the public’s willingness to cooperate when you really need it. Life has to return to normal sometime.
Because psychologically we push bad and negative things out of their minds as soon as they can. Also there is the NIMBY (Not me or not in my backyard) approach.
Don’t ever forget or let your guard down on some things. Stay protected and vigilant. Don’t kid yourself.
You wouldn’t want to damage our economy, cause more political division, and risk local leaders going too far with mandates would you? I’m being sarcastic there, but the truth is the government, including health agencies look at the total health of the population and that includes psychological health.
Moreover, the news basically stopped reporting on covid. For most people that means it doesn’t exist anymore. Most people don’t know close to 400 people a day are still dying in the US, they don’t know that’s about 3–4 times the amount that typically die from flu and pneumonia prior to covid. They believe the vaccine is protecting people, but really the vaccinated elderly are still winding up in hospitals at a fairly high rate. I really had hoped for a cultural shift in the US to be willing to take small measures to prevent spread of respiratory infectious diseases, but no such luck. Covid isn’t going away but it’s at a point where people have to live their lives. People wear masks voluntarily now. I don’t. Of course, if I get sick, I have nobody to blame but myself and I am aware of that. Fortunately, the newest strains are like a bad cold for the majority of people. It’s a gamble, so some may end up in the hospital or dead, especially those with comorbidities, but it’s a chance people take. It got to a point on social media, at the height of the pandemic, where people were in hysterics about mask wearing, people going in certain directions in supermarkets, people staying six feet apart, and stuff like that. Customers screeching at cashiers, customers screeching at each other, people having total meltdowns. Then when the kids had to go back to school, the government made the six foot distance into a three foot distance. It made many people cynical, even though the experts were learning and adjusting things as they went because it’s a new disease and everyone was learning as they went. I no longer participate in mask debates and stuff on social media, and thankfully, there are not many any more and often, those discussions get shut down by group adminis because they go nowhere and just cause dissent. I saw Fauci recently say in an interview that the “stay at home” more extreme orders were put in place temporarily because hospitals were filling up and the healthcare needed time to get adequate quantities of PPE. I interpreted, or maybe I extrapolated, what he said as also being able to criticize governors who went far too strict for too long. Plus, a lot of people did get too hysterical about the people who refused to comply when it wasn’t very many people being so defiant. Typical that when something gets too extreme, then there is an opposite and equal reaction to the other extreme.
It did and does matter when you get sick. People who criticize the more extreme measures in places that had high infection rates in the first year aren’t paying attention. Getting sick the first year is very different from getting sick now. Now, we have vaccines, treatments, and what seems to be a less dangerous strain causing most of the cases.
I still wear a mask in a lot of situations. Edit: I wish there would be more emphasis on mask wearing on public transportation. Because while bad, it’s not the death bringer that it we feared it could be. Society/Life has to go on and most people are psychologically ok with some amount of collateral damage if it means they get to live under the illusion of relative comfort and normalcy. In the end we can’t stop this thing and a balance has to be maintained of taking precautions without damaging the economy and by extension the supply chain that we rely on to live. Covid is no longer a pandemic. It’s endemic. Everyone who wants to be (at least in my country) is vaccinated. Our therepeutic responses are quite good now. Not wearing a mask is fine at this point. When there is a particularly large spike and health care capacity is being threatened, mask use will return, but if you try to force it when it’s not needed (as it was in many places during the pandemic) all you’re going to do is erode the public’s willingness to cooperate when you really need it. Life has to return to normal sometime.
Because psychologically we push bad and negative things out of their minds as soon as they can. Also there is the NIMBY (Not me or not in my backyard) approach.
Don’t ever forget or let your guard down on some things. Stay protected and vigilant. Don’t kid yourself.
