I don't necessarily mean to a small amount of cases. I'm trying to wrap my head around what the next couple months will be looking like. It's not enough, but at least in my state the mask mandate is back everywhere and we're opening more testing sites/improving numbers at current sites. Our vaccination rate is also over 80%. The vaccine is widely available and easy to walk in and get.

The problem is still no mandatory lock down, not enough proper time off, and not all jobs pay workers (outside of PTO) who take off for covid related issues. Those are pretty big road blocks to number of cases going down.

Do these numbers ever go down to noticeable degree without proper measures in place? If not, I wonder what it'll take to get a real response again

  • Mother [any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Like others said it will burn through the population, then we will get a few months reprieve as everyone enjoys temporary immunity, then it will come back and overwhelm hospitals maybe this summer or almost certainly next winter. Forever. Wave after wave after wave after wave

    • buh [she/her]
      ·
      3 years ago

      the chuds were right when they said "the final variant is communism", but we never get it because the virus continues to evolve indefinitely :sadness:

    • iminsomuchpain [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      So in this scenario, what should you do if you manage to dodge the first peak of infections in a wave? If everyone else is protected by their immunity, does that also offer some protection to those who weren't infected just because viral spread is suppressed?

      • Mother [any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Yeah definitely. When cases drop you can relax a little, still mask up and maintain social distancing but no need to go full on self isolation unless you are immunocompromised, but you can go to the movies and stuff, visit friends more etc

      • Kanna [she/her]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Also wondering the same lol. Somehow I haven't gotten covid yet

          • Kanna [she/her]
            ·
            3 years ago

            As far as I know, I haven't. There was one outbreak at my work and I tested myself throughout it and didn't get it. It's possible, but I haven't been near many people other than work

            • MemesAreTheory [he/him, any]
              ·
              3 years ago

              Well I'm rooting for you then! Even though I didn't get tested at the time, I'm now quite certain I had a relatively non-symptomatic case very early on. I exhibited some long-covid cognitive effects that I couldn't make sense of at the time, but then when vaccines came out I STRONGLY reacted to the first dose implying I had previous immune exposure. Had it not been for that vaccine reaction I may have never realized it, though. I really couldn't tell you when I caught it - just that it was clearly sometime before the vaccine.

      • CheGueBeara [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I would recommend an N95 in shared indoor spaces indefinitely (exceptions for a trusted, small network of friends/family doing the same). There will be lulls and those might as well be a time to have a slightly more typical life, but I wouldn't recommend maskless risky behavior because you don't want to be the person that got an immunocompromised friend, family member, or acquaintance killed / disabled. We can't solve the problem through individualist approaches but we can remove our personal contribution in the more extreme cases

        Also get as vaxxed as you can be