COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[DaleCooper]

This tweet was from last week but I'm still posting it to make the point that despite what this forum thinks there is genuine grassroots support for masking from a substantial portion of the population.

There's no grassroots support. It's just a few elites, the media, and laptoppers.

Around here, it's never the blue-collar types who bop around in masks.

This cultural divide is tough to overstate. To this day, I have only met one blue-collar worker personally that wears a mask purely by choice, and even he is a college-educated blue-collar worker.

The support for masking is now more than ever a top down thing, as far as class and especially education goes.

[TheTide]

Brave and admirable of these Democratic governors. There are still vast numbers of Zero Covidists out there.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Looks like someone's seen some scary internals

But I was told that people who took this position were basically murderers like tRUmPkin and DEatHsaNtis.

Are Republicans really incapable of distinguishing between 1,000,000 cases per day and a rapidly-declining 200K per day, or are you just pretending to not understand this so you can dunk on Democrats and hope nobody spends more than half a second processing your posts?

The CASE trajectory was clear since mid January. Everyone with basic algebra could predict it. But it seems like Biden Admin is still "processing" it. Lucky GOP.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1490308693711368193

[It’s so Joever]

This tweet was from last week but I'm still posting it to make the point that despite what this forum thinks there is genuine grassroots support for masking from a substantial portion of the population.

There's no grassroots support. It's just a few elites, the media, and laptoppers.

Around here, it's never the blue-collar types who bop around in masks.

This cultural divide is tough to overstate. To this day, I have only met one blue-collar worker personally that wears a mask purely by choice, and even he is a college-educated blue-collar worker.

The support for masking is now more than ever a top down thing, as far as class and especially education goes.

I’m not a conspiracy type so I guess I wouldn’t know, but if I was and there was something all the elites and educated people were doing that regular people weren’t, I’d be trying to do the former and not the latter.

[compucomp]

This tweet was from last week but I'm still posting it to make the point that despite what this forum thinks there is genuine grassroots support for masking from a substantial portion of the population.

There's no grassroots support. It's just a few elites, the media, and laptoppers.

Around here, it's never the blue-collar types who bop around in masks.

This cultural divide is tough to overstate. To this day, I have only met one blue-collar worker personally that wears a mask purely by choice, and even he is a college-educated blue-collar worker.

The support for masking is now more than ever a top down thing, as far as class and especially education goes.

The "top" you refer to is the 40% of the population that is college educated. College educated people are just as grassroots as non-college educated people. It's not 1980 anymore.

There's a difference between choosing to wear a mask and a mask mandate.
I agree that there are a lot of people that will continue to feel more comfortable wearing a mask in public for the near future.  And they should feel free to do so.

So it doesn't surprise me that a majority of customers in an Alexandria grocery store would be wearing a mask.  But only one customer was harassing Youngkin for not wearing one himself.  (Also I doubt that even this woman would harass a random person not wearing a mask; she probably did it mostly in the hope of getting media attention.)

FWIW, I also know several people who have refused to eat at an indoor restaurant for the last two years, despite most being fully open for at least the last year.  Just because some people still don't feel comfortable doing this doesn't mean we should force restaurants to stay closed for everyone.

If you're able to appreciate the difference and are arguing against mask mandates, then I'm fine with that even if I disagree with you. However, many posters on this forum go much farther and hate the sight of public masking altogether; this thread has many posts complaining "ugh why are people in my area wearing masks when there are no mask mandates" and more recently attacking Biden for merely encouraging masking. My point is that these posts amount to directly attacking a moral value held by a substantial group of people, and thus is quite inflammatory and likely to descend into personal insults and character attacks.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

It's not 1980 anymore.

As far as I'm concerned, it is.

[DaleCooper]

This tweet was from last week but I'm still posting it to make the point that despite what this forum thinks there is genuine grassroots support for masking from a substantial portion of the population.

There's no grassroots support. It's just a few elites, the media, and laptoppers.

Around here, it's never the blue-collar types who bop around in masks.

This cultural divide is tough to overstate. To this day, I have only met one blue-collar worker personally that wears a mask purely by choice, and even he is a college-educated blue-collar worker.

The support for masking is now more than ever a top down thing, as far as class and especially education goes.

The "top" you refer to is the 40% of the population that is college educated. College educated people are just as grassroots as non-college educated people. It's not 1980 anymore.

In many ways, it's worse than 1980 for non-college educated people.

[beesley]

https://twitter.com/FinancialTimes/status/1491412978700361734?t=e5lmMhfBeNA9Y9wu...

Whether you believe this is the right time or not, this should be the end goal. But how much difference would changing this rule make in the US, especially with people not being tested for Omicron due to its lesser symptoms?

[Mr. Illini]

The Gov makes it official. Worth noting that there is a mandate on the local level in Chicago. No word from Lightfoot's office on whether she intends to roll it back as well.

https://twitter.com/GovPritzker/status/1491507086601211911?s=20&t=RmjWKaJyia...

[jamestroll]

My estimates on masking in Nova:

Arlington/Falls Church/Alexandria maybe 60%

Fairfax County 50 to 55%

Prince William County: 20 to 30% lol

Loudoun East- 50%

Loudoun West and South : 20%

[jamestroll]

https://twitter.com/WhyBlitz/status/1491492217155895303

Why are Democrats being so stupid on this issue???

This is not the San Francisco Bay Area.. the back lash to Covid restrictions in Nova is real..and should have been obvious over a year ago when the area largely functioning pre-pandemic while other wealthy Democratic areas had their populations double masked, wearing bio hazard suits and not leaving their home since March 2020.

[Kamala's side hoe]

This tweet was from last week but I'm still posting it to make the point that despite what this forum thinks there is genuine grassroots support for masking from a substantial portion of the population.

There's no grassroots support. It's just a few elites, the media, and laptoppers.

Around here, it's never the blue-collar types who bop around in masks.

This cultural divide is tough to overstate. To this day, I have only met one blue-collar worker personally that wears a mask purely by choice, and even he is a college-educated blue-collar worker.

The support for masking is now more than ever a top down thing, as far as class and especially education goes.

Yeah it’s kinda sad that opposition to the possibility of seasonal mask mandates has gotten like this.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Life After CoVID-19

https://theconversation.com/life-after-covid-most-people-dont-want-a-return-to-normal-they-want-a-fairer-more-sustainable-future-173290

"most people don’t want a return to normal"

Stephan Lewandowsky
Chair of Cognitive Psychology, University of Bristol

Ullrich Ecker
Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Australian Research Council Future Fellow, The University of Western Australia

[Lief 🗽]

This tweet was from last week but I'm still posting it to make the point that despite what this forum thinks there is genuine grassroots support for masking from a substantial portion of the population.

There's no grassroots support. It's just a few elites, the media, and laptoppers.

Around here, it's never the blue-collar types who bop around in masks.

This cultural divide is tough to overstate. To this day, I have only met one blue-collar worker personally that wears a mask purely by choice, and even he is a college-educated blue-collar worker.

The support for masking is now more than ever a top down thing, as far as class and especially education goes.

Yeah it’s kinda sad that opposition to the possibility of seasonal mask mandates has gotten like this.

As far as I know, schools in Japan did not require children to wear masks all day (maybe they do now but not pre-covid). People voluntarily wearing masks when they are ill or when cases are spiking is totally different.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

As far as I know, schools in Japan did not require children to wear masks all day (maybe they do now but not pre-covid). People voluntarily wearing masks when they are ill or when cases are spiking is totally different.

I read that people mostly wore them because of air pollution and allergens.

[Roll Roons]

https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1491485602407190537
This administration is breathtakingly incompetent.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

https://twitter.com/FinancialTimes/status/1491412978700361734?t=e5lmMhfBeNA9Y9wu...

Whether you believe this is the right time or not, this should be the end goal. But how much difference would changing this rule make in the US, especially with people not being tested for Omicron due to its lesser symptoms?

An underrated part of this is not so much people who test positive and then don't quarantine, but people who intentionally don't get tested when they have mild colds so they have plausible deniability not to quarantine.  How many people with slight colds intentionally avoid getting tested because they don't want to quarantine?

[Calthrina950]

https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1491485602407190537
This administration is breathtakingly incompetent.

Walensky has also said that "it is not the right time" for masking requirements to be changed. Clearly, the CDC and the Biden Administration are doubling down on their prior recommendations, which is why, as I said earlier, Democratic efforts to proclaim victory over the pandemic will not save their congressional majorities.

[It’s so Joever]

This tweet was from last week but I'm still posting it to make the point that despite what this forum thinks there is genuine grassroots support for masking from a substantial portion of the population.

There's no grassroots support. It's just a few elites, the media, and laptoppers.

Around here, it's never the blue-collar types who bop around in masks.

This cultural divide is tough to overstate. To this day, I have only met one blue-collar worker personally that wears a mask purely by choice, and even he is a college-educated blue-collar worker.

The support for masking is now more than ever a top down thing, as far as class and especially education goes.

Yeah it’s kinda sad that opposition to the possibility of seasonal mask mandates has gotten like this.

I think it’s pretty obvious at this point there is no point in keeping mandates. You can’t change Americans…they are incapable of being civilized and I think it might be a cultural thing. We may as well lift the mandates for political reasons at this point everywhere. It’s sad, but that is how it is. As long as none of my family or friends get too sick, I am okay with it.

[Hammy]

It's not 1980 anymore.

As far as I'm concerned, it is.

Your imagination does not dictate reality.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1491485602407190537
This administration is breathtakingly incompetent.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

This tweet was from last week but I'm still posting it to make the point that despite what this forum thinks there is genuine grassroots support for masking from a substantial portion of the population.

There's no grassroots support. It's just a few elites, the media, and laptoppers.

Around here, it's never the blue-collar types who bop around in masks.

This cultural divide is tough to overstate. To this day, I have only met one blue-collar worker personally that wears a mask purely by choice, and even he is a college-educated blue-collar worker.

The support for masking is now more than ever a top down thing, as far as class and especially education goes.

Yeah it’s kinda sad that opposition to the possibility of seasonal mask mandates has gotten like this.

Isn't Japan pretty sexist (not to mention xenophobic and homophobic), albeit very polite, too? Yet, they raise a lot of bada$$ female doctors, engineers you name it.

[compucomp]

This tweet was from last week but I'm still posting it to make the point that despite what this forum thinks there is genuine grassroots support for masking from a substantial portion of the population.

There's no grassroots support. It's just a few elites, the media, and laptoppers.

Around here, it's never the blue-collar types who bop around in masks.

This cultural divide is tough to overstate. To this day, I have only met one blue-collar worker personally that wears a mask purely by choice, and even he is a college-educated blue-collar worker.

The support for masking is now more than ever a top down thing, as far as class and especially education goes.

Yeah it’s kinda sad that opposition to the possibility of seasonal mask mandates has gotten like this.

I think it’s pretty obvious at this point there is no point in keeping mandates. You can’t change Americans…they are incapable of being civilized and I think it might be a cultural thing. We may as well lift the mandates for political reasons at this point everywhere. It’s sad, but that is how it is. As long as none of my family or friends get too sick, I am okay with it.

I feel you on this. At least N95/KN95 masks, hand sanitizer, etc are freely available now. Now that the virus is on the decline, it might be a good idea to buy them up in bulk while they're cheap and easy to get so that when the virus comes back in force we'll have them ready and not have to pay inflated market prices to have them shipped to us weeks later.

Of course, if this forum had its way, these things would be made controlled substances, depriving us the means to protect ourselves just so they can avoid being triggered by being reminded that the pandemic is not over.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/AP/status/1491558591387557888

A nice quote from Dr. Leana Wen there

The White House offered no timetable for the review or an indication of what it will recommend. And some critics say that’s not good enough.

“The tragic thing is that these are governors that would probably have followed the White House’s guidance,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a former Baltimore health commissioner. “They wanted CDC input and asked for it, but without a clear timeline, at some point they had to decide that they couldn’t wait any more. The fault is not theirs, but the CDC’s and by extension, President Biden’s, which, with each passing day, is making itself less and less relevant.”

Haha, this!