They also imposed some stricter lock down measures early on which did in fact work in limiting the damage of the first wage of COVID. I read somewhere that that basically totally locked down their old age homes and were really much more effective in their non-vaccine measures than in the West (please wear a mask to your table at Applebees vs. you can’t leave your house). I think their early phase response was more effective, creating some complacency. Omicron and low vaccination rates and complacency are not a good combination.
So they thought they’d just wait out a virus that everyone thinks is going endemic instead of vaccinating everyone? gjge
Statewide cases are still about 20 times higher than the last time the university stopped the mask mandate. With cases rising in many parts of the world, this seems like a premature action to me. And for what gain?
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I think this is the main point. What exactly does it accomplish? There are no downsides to asking people to wear a mask indoors. Its incredibly easy to do and helps stop the spread of multiple airborne illnesses, not just Covid.
I don’t mind wearing a mask when doing random things like going shopping or going to watch my kid perform at a swim meet, and I continue to do that voluntarily. But my experience teaching and sitting in research presentations is that it’s a real impediment. When I’m teaching, it’s hard for me to assess how well students seem to be understanding material if I can’t see any facial expressions. And when I’m watching someone else present, it similarly feels like there’s less of an exchange happening.
I can’t get on board with the “there’s absolutely no cost in any setting to mandating that people wear masks” claim. That almost seems like a strawman tbh.
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The funny thing is, the first two instances are where you least need the mask, and the hour + spent in the same room with a bunch of people is where its most needed. If you think the removal of the ability to read people is a bigger overall detriment than protecting against airborne illness, then yeah, not much I can say about that, but our flu numbers as a nation went down considerably during mask mandates, and that could lead to a lot less deaths from something like the flu. I think the tradeoff is worth it, but I understand I dont speak for everyone.
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I agree that masks are effective, and I can easily imagine myself in a hypothetical post-COVID world wearing a mask if I were in public with flu symptoms. But there’s no way I can imagine universally mandating masks throughout every flu season. Can you?
I guess not, but we’ve shown it can be done. How easy it is to have a sign on a door that says mask is required upon entry during flu season? Most indoor places during flu season, most people should be masked up. Does that mean it should be mandated? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I don’t know that I can answer that question
I’m not claiming there are zero costs to masks. There are costs to everything.
But the above would still be true in a masks optional environment where 80+% of the students are choosing to wear them, right?
Of course.
Edit: If 80% of people will continue masking voluntarily, then moving from mandatory to voluntary really isn’t that consequential.
Cases are going down. It’s irrelevant that it’s 2x or 20x or 200x. Thats just science don’tchaknow?
You think there is any chance at all that when a Captain Tripps level super bug hits people are going to listen to the medical community after this?
We’re fucked, man. There will be another pandemic down the line, and when it hits its gonna be “Covid wasnt that bad, we will be fine, blah blah blah blah” until it turns out , whoops, this one is actually gonna kill 50% of us. We probably should have locked down two weeks ago, and oh yeah, now we’re all dead.
We exist in a world of spectacularly stupid people, and the next time it really will be a death cult.
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y’all should have seen the reaction from the county sheriff with a stupid little pornstar mustache when I told him to put on a mask. He was shocked, like covid is over bro, even in the fucking ER. ass.
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Passed my rapid test in Bulgaria. Now at Bucharest airport hotel to start the trip home in the AM.
Not many masks here in either Bulgaria or Romania. The testing site staff had masks on their chins until we walked in. Word is vax adoption is low.
Thankfully the work part went very well. Huge fermentation facility. Happy client. No Covid. Cha-Ching.
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I’ve got some bad news for you when you get home…
That’s basically been the core of why a lot of countries have low vaccination rates. It’s a complete and total lack of trusts in institutions, especially governments.
And I mean it’s easy to see why they feel that way. It sucks that they generalize that feeling to cover lifesaving vaccinations but governments don’t do themselves any favors by being untrustworthy shitholes in the first place.
No surprise in Romania
Bulgaria wasn’t giving a shit about COVID last summer either. It’s why the COVID death rate is the second highest in the world behind Peru.
Hey they were down. We don’t recognize up until at least 3 weeks down the road.
Kind of like gas prices vs oil prices. Zelensky sneezes and the prices go up 30% in a week. New process developed to produce oil from air and the price comes down in 3 months.
I’ll tell my Bulgarian friends to try harder. 2nd is just 1st loser.
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Czech Republic removing all restrictions on arrivals from other EU member states along with Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican. No proof of vaccination, negative test, or proof of previous infection required and no location form as well.
Guess the UK still needs that stuff though
Moderna is seeking an EUA from the FDA for a second booster for all adults.