With COVID-19 Conditions Improving, State Public Health Leaders Modify Omicron Surge Policies

AHCHOOO - exactly. Masks help in varying degrees, but they help. When we had no other tools to fight the virus, the mandates were critical, yet still butted against. At this point, we know 1/4 to 1/3 of our population prefers risking death to making any effort, so let's just let them. I'm sick of trying to protect those who have no interest in reciprocating, and in many cases, going out of their way to obstruct others from wearing masks. Let them be and wish them luck (or not). I'm done trying.

As I recall, for much of the pandemic it was hard to obtain N95 masks. That meant that masking was something we did mainly for others, to keep our breath moisture from spraying all over. We knew those masks didn’t stop all spread, but they helped. Then omicron arrived and was even more contagious, so the masks were less effective than before. But N95s became available, and vast numbers of people remained unvaccinated, so masking was heavily promoted again. Now we have come to accept that the unvaccinated intend to stay that way, and anyone who wants to avoid breathing virus particles can wear an N95 mask if they want. You can can’t compare the effectiveness of masks without considering 1) Type of mask, and 2) Conditions at the time.

Very logical Robert and the public health departments would/should be factoring that in. Makes this sudden pullback in masking, even with high reported numbers, even more skeptical that its actual science vs. political science.

@ 6:43

At least one of those two seems to be a sock puppet. Same disinformation content, same grammar and spelling errors, same limited vocabulary. Either that, or both spent too much of their schooling in the principal's office.

DUKE - "thats something that needs to be talked about." - yeah, we no one has mentioned masks in school.... at all. Lol come on man!

4:52 - precisely. Even though not as dangerous as a year ago, misinformation about COVID can still be deadly. Look at all the unvaxxed people dying from it still. They're all dying because they believed the lies about the vaccine.

I think by now, regular readers of Edhat know about the idiotic content spewed profusely by the BS gang, and don't even bother reading it. Still, their content is potentially harmful to somebody naive about COVID (if such exist) and new to Edhat, so it's good to counter that.

Its ok to disagree, but Edhat deletes when you fly off the handle… and often rightly so! I’ve gotten deleted quite a few times (damn you still school board)… it’s important to realise debate is ok. And debating the point of making all people (and especially all kids) in all indoor settings is a necessary debate. The masks are having a tangibly negative effect on a lot of kids… if it’s no longer beneficial (or never was to begin with, but I digress) thats something that needs to be talked about.

@Zero, Violating our comment policies, namely insulting and disparaging other commenters regardless if you disagree with them, is cause for comment deletion. You can email us at info@edhat.com to further the conversation.
-ed staff

ZERO - buddy..... I think it might be the tone and verbiage getting you removed. I agree 100% with pretty much everything you say and am equally frustrated seeing outright lies being posted (and sometimes deleted) or worse - the racist and sociopathic rants of CONSERVATIVESB still being permitted. Best to keep the responses within the guidelines though. I've flown off the handle a lot recently due to some crappy things happening and have been deleted, but expected as much.

Stick around and continue to debate, your comments are usually a refreshing change to the outright lies, racism, and just plain evil that is regurgitated here by so many.

Funny!

Politics is playing the entire part right now. While Omicron on an individual basis is less deadly, we're still seeing more daily deaths due to (or with) covid than anytime during the pandemic, except for last winter's surge, and the currently available vaccines are less effective. This wave of mask mandate pull backs throughout the blue states is the result of continually tanking polling numbers and politicians concern about the elections later this year. If they can roll things back early enough, regardless of covid stats, they hope the voters, who are notorious for their short-term memory, will forgot all about it and focus on whatever other emergency, scandal, hot-button issue, or war (Russia?) they create over the next 9 months.

Politics certainly plays a part, but we must also consider that omicron has proven to be less deadly than earlier variants, death-reducing vaccines are available to all, and high-quality masks are available to all (for a price). All these things are in agreement with “the science,” and affect the decisions about mask mandates. Yep, it’s still a respiratory virus. But other conditions have changed.

Just like when they originally said no masks then yes masks because "the science changed", now they're moving away from masks because "the science changed". The "epidemiological science" never changed, it was a respiratory virus then, it's still a respiratory virus today. The "political science" is the only science that changed. Hopefully many who were unable to see this previously will now begin to open their eyes.

10:30 - Compare Sweden's numbers to the other Nordic countries, and you'll see what a disaster they suffered. Comparing them to us, with all the COVIDIOTS running the initial response, is pretty lame.

I’ve never weighed in on the masks-for-children issue. I do wish that our government, from the very start, had moved heaven and earth to get N95 masks manufactured and available to health care workers and civilians alike. And when it wasn’t done right away, it should have been done later. Good masks, worn properly, work well. If we had had access to N95s from the start, we could have worn them to protect ourselves, and wouldn’t have had to think so much about whether others were wearing them.

I couldn’t agree with you more! Do all those things and be safe… protect yourself! But wouldn’t you agree that My 8 year old has a slightly different situation than you…?

Sac - I'm not speaking to the efficacy of masks, I'm referring to that time of uncertainty in 2020 before vaccines when we needed to reopen schools and figure out how to go forward. At that point, masks made sense. We are (obviously) many many months past that point. So yes, the masks played a role. And sure, they might play a role again. But a blanket mandate now is illogical and counterproductive.

MM - For some people (and for a few select situations) masks certainly aren't done. But as a blanket mandate...they have to be!

"cloth masks are effective" - they've been proven time and time again to be at least somewhat effective. Stop your lying and stick to ripping off other people's posts and claiming them as your own.

"silencing of any dissent" - more accurately, stemming the spread of verifiable lies.

"with hindsight" ignores the silencing of any dissent from the accepted narrative the past two years, no matter how educated and experienced the person whose putting out the contrary view was. People were censored for talking about it originating from a lab, about the (lack of effectiveness) of masks, for saying that if you get vaccinated you can still catch and transmit covid. It isn't hindsight when so many knew this all along.

DUKE, I don't think the mask's role is completely done. I do think, with hindsight, mandating masks for all this time (except for a brief time in the summer), was a mistake.

We are all learning though. The fact of the matter is, masks effectiveness depends on type of mask, local case rates, specific strain of COVID, and how packed you are indoors. We are probably getting pretty close to not needing masks in schools (our numbers are dropping, our case rates are below last winter's peak and approaching the delta peak).

Hospitalizations are still high though, with ICU numbers near the delta peak.

DUKE - "The masks played a role. That role though is done. " How do you figure? Did masks once work, but now no longer do?

Masking in close quartered indoor areas makes sense. Mandate it or not, I'm still probably going to do it to avoid infection, as wearing a mask is not even minutely inconvenient for me. Should everyone else have to, whether they want to or not? Nah, I think with the numbers going down we should be fine. BUT..... when we have out of control numbers, coupled with so many who refuse to vaccinate, masks should be required indoors. We're not there anymore though, I don't think.

Any case of walking across a street is potentially deadly. The question becomes how far and long can you mandate something despite its lack of tangible value. The masks played a role. That role though is done. How long are you going to ignore and defy the logic and science and try to mandate them? Our kids truly and definitively are suffering…

Yet another false narrative from someone trying to justify their own selfishness. Despite the fact that your odds are hugely better if you're vaxxed and boosted, any case of COVID is potentially deadly.

739pm - The “innocent” can and should get vaccinated and then will not have to worry about it, as while they will still be able to spread Covid, they will be protected from it. It’s kind of odd how imperilled you (a presumably vaxxed, boosted and perpetually masked person) think you are by unvaccinated people. It’s completely irrational.

And the culling of the innocent who mix with the uneducated or willfully ignorant,

We have come to a point in the pandemic where Duke and I can agree.

Which is sad as it will disproportionately kill minorities…

But there still isn’t any logic at this point for mandating masks in all scenarios… or in more than 1 or 2 scenarios for the vast majority of us. Protect yourself and stop obsessing over masking other peoples 8 year olds…

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,or the one"
Yea, science fiction.
Kind of like now, huh?
You need to get going on the next election where your &%#@ makes nonsense for people to get confused and vote your way.
Get going girl.

Wow Sac, Sorry to hear that. My condolences. To Bud's point, everyone I have known that got Covid really didn't have much more than a cold. I think maybe others have had the same experience so they view it as such. Crazy and sad that you've experienced that.

Bud you have no idea what you're talking about. It's not the sniffles.

Bud - tell that to the family of the (fourth) friend I just lost this weekend to COVID.

From today's article: Omicron "has also resulted in shorter periods of illness, fewer hospitalizations, and a lower death count for fully vaccinated community members."

Positivity rates, case rates, and hospitalization rates are all higher today than the same time last year. ICU capacity is about the same. In addition we have a variant going around that is not only more transmissible but more easily evades vaccines. The science didn't change, the politics did.