What the end of the airline mask mandates reveals about our new Covid-19 normal

Rising coronavirus The incident does not prevent most of the country from continuing its transition from a pandemic, forcing many Americans to protect themselves on the path to a new normal.

Even in the case of the whole country 47 percent soar Last 2 weeks, Monday Federal judge Lifted Air travel mask requirements and Inaudible As if the Biden administration was fighting a big battle to revive it.When people who are literally on the plane hear the news, their reaction Reflection This chaotic new moment in a pandemic, a mixture of cheers and fresh horror.

But if you look at people’s attitudes broadly, Americans are moving towards normal.according to Kaiser Family Foundation March Poll, 27% of Americans say they basically redo what they normally did before the pandemic. Another 14% said they never changed their behavior. So almost half of the country lives as if Covid-19 had never happened. Conversely, 17% of Americans say they haven’t done most of the activities they did before the pandemic.

The largest group, 42% of the United States, is in the middle. These Americans state that they are doing some (but not all) of their pre-pandemic activities. Combining this group with people who have returned to normal, more than half of the country takes it less seriously as governments and businesses continue to encourage their return to economic and social activity.

For so many people, it makes this a pandemic mess. We have moved away from the keen focus on cases as the most important indicator and away from using extensive mitigation measures such as mask obligations to reduce the number of cases. However, it is not clear what to replace the old pandemic idea with.

There are still many reasons to avoid exposure to Covid-19. Some people, especially the elderly and people with immunodeficiency, are at increased risk of developing serious symptoms when infected. For others, there are financial and social costs of getting sick, especially if their workplace or school requires a long quarantine period following a positive test.

However, exposure is difficult to avoid if complex policy responses from federal, state, and local governments are no longer based on helping people do so. In general, the government is now almost entirely focused on limiting hospitalizations and deaths, or allowing them to return to pre-pandemic activities.Hospitalization is now plateau Nationwide after a long decline. During the winter Omicron wave, the dead are still falling from the peak.

Very often vaccinated or previously infected with the virus is expected to reduce severe cases. However, the virus is still widespread. The current difference is that governments and businesses implicitly and explicitly admit that they can only do a lot about it. Delta Air Lines responded to a court ruling to lift Mask’s order, First referenced To Covid-19 as a Normal Seasonal Disease — Previously Backtrack..

Instead of one cohesive Covid-19 response, people are left to make millions of individual decisions, ultimately limiting the ability of others to evade the virus.

As President Joe Biden Said On Tuesday, when Americans were asked if they should continue to mask on the plane, even though the mission was canceled, “it’s up to them.”

The unpleasant truth is that only one person can do it right now. Wearing a mask, avoiding crowded indoor spaces, and getting up-to-date vaccination information is a guide to reducing the risk of Covid-19. However, with so many people going on, there is no definitive plan to avoid infection.

Justin Feldman, a social epidemiologist at Harvard University, told me, “Given that society cannot easily avoid exposure, we need a really compelling reason to try to avoid it.” rice field.

Earlier in the pandemic, it seemed clear what would happen next to start loosening the rules of the pandemic. New tools have always emerged to help with that. First, I waited for the vaccine to be approved, and then I waited for people to get the vaccine. A few months later, we were waiting for news about booster shots. The oncoming Omicron wave, albeit expensive, promised to spread immunity to many.

However, at this point, new interventions are rarely made, despite the ever-increasing number of cases. The toolbox has an inventory of vaccines, treatments, tests, etc., and it is up to each individual to decide how to use the tool.

Society is making a difficult pivot and is now asking those who have experienced the most extreme social and economic turmoil in life to consider it part of the environment because of the all-new coronavirus. .. We are moving from a world of stay-at-home orders, business closures, and universal masking requirements to a pandemic experience of your choice.

Kate Cagney, a sociology and public health researcher at the University of Michigan, said, “I feel more noisy about how people perceive the virus, its severity, its risks, and its risks to others. I’m doing it, “he told me. “There is no consistent algorithm that we all follow.”

The United States is experiencing a difficult pandemic transition

Not everyone is facing this new normal on an equal footing. Older Americans and immunocompromised people have good reason to pay attention to avoiding Covid-19, as Covid-19 can pose a serious health risk.

But for others, there may be a tug of war between pulling to normal and wanting to be conscientious about the virus, even in this relatively calm state. Still kill About 500 Americans every day.

Finding a new approach can be a challenge when governments, businesses, and many around you are no longer a positive concern to behave like Covid-19.People are also returning this transition to more normal activity while fighting. The ever-changing public health guidance When Increasing lack of real-time information About the actual state of occurrence.

You can see obstacles everywhere. There has always been some variability in what public health professionals think about pandemics, but the department feels tougher than ever. Former Baltimore City Health Commissioner and Washington Post contributor Linawen were confused when Philadelphia recently decided to reinstate Mask’s obligations as local incidents began to increase.She Quote A CDC-specific assessment that classifies Philadelphia as a low-risk area.But some of her public health buddies soon Pushed back To Wen, who doubted the city’s decision to be more aggressive about delaying the Covid-19 epidemic.

You will be allowed to be confused. However, this kind of dissonance is becoming more and more common.The newspaper Cancel As the number of cases of Covid-19 increased locally, a White House correspondent dinner reception was held, but the dinner continues. Even when the number of local cases is increasing, the DC metro system has finished its masking requirements.

In such a fast-paced information environment, it’s no wonder that pandemics are confusing our minds.Experts caveat About decision fatigue a year ago, and according to research, many people’s anxiety has worsened over the past two years.One survey-based survey in Europe found Those who were highly interested in the pandemic were more likely to show signs of neuroticism. According to the report, people with a high level of anxiety were more likely to feel a high level of risk from Covid-19. Another US-based study..

People get stressed when they feel sick, as simple as asking a colleague to go for a drink. Every social interaction comes with a complex decision tree. Is the person comfortable to go out in public? I’m going to see his parents this weekend, so if I go out tonight, can I get an inspection in time?

“It’s a lot of cognitive involvement. I think people are just at home because they always have to be engaged in that calculus so much that they wear it,” Cagney told me.

Or they may go the other way and mostly give up taking precautionary measures. After all, many others have it.

Why this part of the pandemic is so confusing

Part of the reason for all the confusion is that the pandemic is partly a social structure.

There are objective biological phenomena, but there are also social factors. It’s a pandemic because we collectively judge that there is a moral imperative to prevent illness. It happened when the government issued a shelter-in-place order, shutting down most of the economy to curb the spread of Covid-19, and most people agreed to follow new public health guidelines. ..

Since then, we’ve been looking for ways to get out of that pandemic spirit. However, the nature of this particular emergency, in which Covid-19 will eventually become prevalent, made it even more difficult. David Rehkopf, a social epidemiologist at Stanford University, pointed out to me that most public health risks would be resolved or limited in some way. The measles outbreak eventually ends. Chronic health problems such as obesity and diabetes are not infectious. The dietary decisions of one person do not affect the likelihood that another person will develop those conditions.

However, Covid-19 still exists and still infects people. Still, the official attitude has shifted from “absolutely avoiding infection” to “infection is a largely acceptable risk for returning life to normal.” Whiplash can be quite confusing if you are at the cautious end of your risk tolerance.

“Even if objective data is awkward, without moral judgment, that level of death and illness is now the norm,” Kimberly Holland, a medical sociologist at Georgetown University, told me. “Many people themselves have not changed as society objectively transitioned to this endemic stage rather than the pandemic stage.”

We may accept new normals.Is effective vaccination Now and Treatment This greatly reduces the risk of dying from Covid-19. Many public health professionals believe that preventing the worst consequences is the best we can hope for. It may not be realistic to expect to be able to avoid catching a virus that has become contagious like measles.

For healthy and vaccinated people, it may not be desirable to take the extreme steps necessary to avoid exposure. Limiting activity to delay the virus can adversely affect not only the general economy, but also social networks that help relieve the stress that many people are burdened with during a crisis.

“Our Covid-19 policy must admit that we are not just trying to move one needle anymore,” said Briana Mezuk, co-director of the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health at the University of Michigan. Told me. .. “At this point in the pandemic, a single policy focused on the case of Covid-19 is meaningless.”

However, in some important respects, our policy is still uniquely focused on Covid-19. Infection with the coronavirus can force someone into a quarantine period, but it is not always the case with the flu. Apart from clinical risks, obtaining Covid-19 has economic and social costs.

We are still looking for a new equilibrium. So far, it has been a difficult transition. As Rehkopf told me, “There is no guide for this kind of midpoint.”