[M]ost Americans have turned the page and abandoned mitigation measures. By August, according to a Morning Consult poll, just 14 percent of adults viewed covid as a severe health risk. This tracks with their other findings that only 28 percent still mask in all settings, while 75 percent were comfortable with indoor dining.
But the pandemic is surely not over. The seven-day moving average of daily deaths in the United States is nearly 400 and has plateaued at this terrible level since April. The average of new daily cases is 60,000, way higher than in the spring.
Covid is not even “over” in the sense that the HIV epidemic is “over.” It is more that exhaustion and fatalism has replaced any motivation to do something about it. Human psyches are remarkably resilient when it comes to acute threats, but ongoing emergencies without apparent endpoints, we do not do well with. It comes down to most folks accepting this as then new “normal,” where 400 people a day (150,000 per year) are going to die of this thing and we all pretend it is not happening. And demonize anyone who reminds us that it does not have to be like this, if we would just be willing to endure a little inconvenience. But we will not. I suspect because it is too frightening to admit that this is happening, so we just deny it and stick our fingers in our ears and sing “la la la la la.” Meanwhile, those of us who cannot ignore it are dying, physically and spiritually, at an ever accelerating rate. 2 1/2 years of this.
Am I right in thinking that deaths from the flu each year are about 50,000 or so (obviously variable, but, generally?). So, more than 100,000 more than that each year to covid… How is that acceptably to anyone?
Yeah, using public opinion polls as a measure of whether or not the COVID pandemic is “over” is such bullshit. (Not saying you are doing this, to be clear.)
It’s like using public opinion polls to determine whether or not racism in the US is “over,” or any of a thousand issues. We have actual statistics that prove otherwise. All those polls show is public perception, and it’s often wrong, skewed by biased media consumption or personal, anecdotal evidence that doesn’t reflect reality.
I weep for our healthcare workers.
I like Leana Wen and all, but this “it’s no longer a problem because people are living with it and aren’t as concerned ” seems like an incredibly shitty take to me.
” seems like an incredibly shitty take to me.