“Nearly 40 states are reporting high #COVID activity levels, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and emergency room visits are at their highest for the virus since February.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-is-covid-surging-summer-2024/
@GottaLaff Also a question: why is our society not responding with widespread recommendations for masking and other precautions?
@Bobsee, there have been some changes where I live (Seattle) in times of high covid rates but it's still disappointing.
@Dr_Elizabeth97 Folks are not even masking in doctor's offices or hospitals here.
@Bobsee , I've been gone for the last two weeks on vacation so I don't know if the hospitals and clinics are requiring masking. I will tell you that only a small minority do it without there being a requirement in place. My mother-in-law's hospice nurses are wonderful but they don't mask even though she does, along with my husband and I. I don't get that at all. If she gets Covid-19, there's not only an increased chance that her death will be hastened but also that she'd die in isolation.
@Bobsee @GottaLaff because the people in charge prefer feel-good (but useless) solutions.
https://med-mastodon.com/@luckytran/112843293805941039
@Bobsee @GottaLaff it came up at lunch here, people are starting to talk about it again, hopefully that leads more people to mask up
@Bobsee @GottaLaff exactly. Mask up and *open doors and windows as much as possible*.
@GottaLaff I had gotten a bit lax with masking just recently. Time to get consistent with it again. Anxiously awaiting the new vaccine in the fall that will target recent strain.
@caryn Fall, supposedly combined with flu vax
@GottaLaff I've been pretty lax about masking unless places are busy because numbers have been pretty low in my area (wastewater monitoring), but in the airport and on a flight 3M Aura all the way and I'll probably keep wearing them while in the western half of the country.
* https://iwss.uillinois.edu/wastewater-treatment-plant/172/?target=SARS-CoV-2
@GottaLaff what States wear a mask get your vaccine
@GottaLaff
Whatever keeps people inside, be it very cold or very hot weather.