Since Thanksgiving, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of Covid cases and hospitalizations in Los Angeles. This time, though, neither dread nor disguises seem to be present. The number of people hospitalized with Covid-19 in Los Angeles County has nearly tripled in the past month, as it does every December, suggesting that another mask mandate may be on the horizon.
By late 2020, the area had already witnessed strict lockdowns and a state-imposed curfew in response to a pandemic. However, many people have grown tired of warnings and talk of safeguards this time, although Los Angeles now has the most significant population in California.
Because current cases and hospitalizations are much lower than during the worst periods of the outbreak, covid updates no longer inspire the same worry they once did. Residents also mentioned that they were tired of hearing about it. “I think it’s just kind of run its course with me,” said Kirk Carter, 60, a retired television writer in Los Angeles. It’s become the norm.
“Wearing masks properly is very important,” health officials say
In this day and age of immunizations and survival stories, the coronavirus no longer appears to be seen as a life-threatening menace but rather as an inconvenience for the healthy. And health officials have noticed that apathy has replaced terror in the previous year and that covering one’s face is now merely a fashion accessory, often tucked under the chin.
Mr. Carter, up-to-date on his vaccinations and boosters, recently flew to New York to see his daughter and didn’t have to wear the mask he hated wearing on airplanes. This sentiment is shared by many Americans even when crime rates rise again in the days and weeks after Thanksgiving. Positive test results and reports of new cases have increased precipitously, especially in densely populated areas, with increases above 25%.
People are increasingly relying on at-home tests, and the virus may spread faster than case numbers indicate since people aren’t reporting the results. As Americans prepare to celebrate the holidays together later this month, epidemiologists caution that it is too soon to say that this winter will be less harsh than the prior two years.
While the spread of the Covid virus may not appear too concerning to the general public this December, it offers significant hazards to the elderly and those with impaired immune systems. Although Covid transmission levels in parts of New York City have already reached the threshold at which the CDC recommends indoor masking, no new public health measures have been published.
According to Robert Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, “there are very few people who still believe that way.” A shift from collective to private risk-benefit calculations is “a natural phenomenon,” as one researcher put it.
Making public aware of the safety precautions are very important
Dr. Wachter explained that mask requirements were put in place to send a message about how seriously things needed to be taken. He remarked, “I don’t think it was ever enforceable; I think it was just an agreement that it was the proper thing to do, and there was a lot of social pressure to do it.”
Recently, though, the pressure has been relieved. On Tuesday, Sara Cody, the public health director for Santa Clara County, told reporters, “I’ve seen folks go into a location, see that no one is masking, and take off their mask.”
Furthermore, Dr. Cody reported that the wastewater figures in her region, which includes Silicon Valley, were “absolutely soaring,” indicating a rapid spread of Covid. She advocated for using disguises, even if she had no plans to implement them formally. After three years, she remarked, “mandating is incredibly difficult.”
Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, argued such a mandate would only be successful if everyone wore N-95 masks rather than the surgical or cloth masks that are still widely available. He warned that the boosted should not get their hopes up too high, as the effect of the enhancement wears off after a few months. He cautioned, “The virus is still under control.”
source: nytimes.com
