ABC Science Collaborative has been collecting data on school systems and Covid policies since the pandemic began. Here was their report for Spring of 2022. Just in case anyone way interested.
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Iâm seeing articles indicating that CDC is about to change its guidance. The articles say the CDC is changing its âmask guidanceâ but actually it looks like the change will be to the definition of levels of community transmission.
CDC âsignificantlyâ changing COVID mask guidelines, reports say - al.com
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the AP reported the CDC will move away from looking only at COVID case numbers towards a holistic approach that includes caseloads, hospitalizations and hospital capacity. Under current guidelines, some 95% of U.S. counties are considered areas of substantial or high transmission, meaning masks are recommended. The new guidelines would remove those designations, meaning the vast majority of Americans will no longer live in areas where indoor masking in public is recommended.
Iâm curious how the new guidance will look. Iâm not sure where to find more on the CDC website. Possibly itâs not updated yet.
Health anxiety is a thing, and it is indeed more prevalent now. While for some people it is a constant companion, the same coping mechanisms that people with this type of anxiety (they used to be called hypochondriacs) use can also be useful for those with COVID induced health anxiety.
https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/January-2019/How-I-Cope-with-Health-Anxiety
Not being facetious or flippant, I really think that we can all benefit from this.
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My Dad is a hypochondriac and so was his mom, my grandmother. Their doctors, thankfully, are/were great artists as well as scientists and have helped them deal with this very well (the power of the placebo is very strong with both of them). Interestingly, my Dad is not extra anxious about Covid. My family is really puzzled about this but we dare not kick the hornetâs nest and start questioning him about this. He is a great admirer of vaccination, so maybe that has helped keep his sanity intact during these times.
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That was very interesting data - thanks for posting it!
The new CDC guidance came out this afternoon. Based on the new guidance, more mask mandates may be going away. My familyâs large suburban school district just announced that based on new CDC guidance, their mask mandate is now changing to âStrongly Recommends masksâ starting next week.
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The CDCâs page on the subject, with a map of counties by high / medium / low levels of COVID-19 (and therefore CDC mask and other COVID-19-related recommendations based on that) is here:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/community-levels.html
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Yesterday, my county was high (like pretty much the entire US) for levels of Covid, and today we are considered low. Amazing how fast that target moved, but my community has seen a lot less mask wearing and virtually no mask mandates besides school buildings for months. The new guidelines have basically removed the school building mandates in my area so it will be interesting to see what my wifeâs students and coworkers will do at her high school next week.
Our county is one of the high ones; it was before and remains so. The local news media has failed to report the new recommendations accurately or completely. Area schools had dropped mask requirements already, mainly due to a loudly vocal group of parents who complained claiming their children were made ill by wearing masks.
I now expect far less mask wearing despite the local situation. Some who were confrontational before may get more aggressive in their negative remarks to mask wearers. Iâm glad that I donât need to go out frequently.
The new page is different from the old page, which still shows high levels (by different measures) in most counties:
So it looks like the new classification works first by case count per 100k. If case count is averaging <200 per 100k, a higher rate of hospitalization is required to trigger a Medium or High status. I think it mostly makes sense.
With a more severe variant that didnât spread as easily, youâd trigger Medium or High status based on relatively higher hospitalization numbers - and because the variant wasnât spreading as quickly, the problem of lag in hospitalization would be countered somewhat.
With a higher spread variant that wasnât as severe, it would take more hospitalization to trigger a Medium or High status.
I would be a little worried about a higher spread variant with higher severity. It seems like you could run into a situation where the Medium or High status didnât trigger fast enough due to hospitalization lag.
Then again, for my county, it doesnât really matter. My county still shows high levels, which seems appropriate to me.
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We were at a memorial service/celebration of life yesterday. The deceased was late 80âs. A number of friends in that age group remained. They attended both the Church service and the event at the widowerâs home.
We spaced apart in the church and almost no one kept on their masks. The good portion of the seniors who arrived with masks were wearing the cloth kind.
The worship leader/singer would take her mask off to sing, lead prayer etc. and they put it back on. In the case of a Catholic service that amounts to A LOT of on/off.
At the reception no one left on a mask. That included the seniors who stayed in the house vs. the back yard. H and I as well as DS were uncomfortable inside so we stayed out back.
I think this really is over for most people - at least in their private lives.
This is in the greater San Francisco Bay Area where compliance on all fronts has been high.
We did see a rather large number of people walking thru the central part of that town wearing masks. Including parents who were walking kids to school. Seems that a lot of the masking has little to do with actual safety and more with signaling those around you. Itâs hard for me to believe in this community (affluent and educated) actually still thinks the science points to masking while walking outdoors.
At homeâŠmask offâŠoutsideâŠmask on.
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Some people going to a mask-required location (or where they want to wear a mask inside) put on the mask beforehand, rather than just before entering the location.
Some people leaving a place where they wore masks may not have bothered to take them off immediately after leaving.
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I often forget to take my mask off when I leave a building. I can even be in my car driving before I remember it. If Iâm signaling anything to others who are watching, itâs that Iâm quite forgetful.
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I live near a high school. Ive seen many kids walking home aloneâŠ.no one near them âŠ.and the mask is still on ( no outdoor mandate). I think they just forget or canât be bothered to take it off. I donât think they are signaling anything.
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And then some children are prompted by their parents to wear their masks all the time regardless of official ârulesâ and if their or another parent drives by and catches them without they might get in trouble. This pandemic has revealed a variety of parenting techniques.
I know no one who would tell their kids that. And I live in a very mask adherent area. I do however know several people who have reported surprise to see their kids walk in the door with their masks still on. The kids explanation: Itâs cold outside and the mask actually is a lot more comfortable than a scarf but serves the same purpose. .
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Some parents do indeed tell their kids that. You might have a different experience where you live. ETA totally agree about cold weather - itâs why my adult children wear their masks outside.
Thatâs a good point about cold weather. For me personally itâs hard to understand how someone forgets they are wearing a mask since I still find it bothersome.
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Not all people find wearing a mask to be bothersome enough to want to remove it immediately when no longer required or personally desired to wear one.
It can also matter what kind of mask one wears. Some are more bothersome than others (or it may vary by situation). Remember Aaron Collinsâ mask tests? Some high filtration masks have much better airflow than others. No doubt shape of the mask also matters in terms of fit and comfort for your face.
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