Last week several states announced that they would be lifting COVID-19 restrictions.
Texas and Mississippi removed virtually all COVID-19 restrictions. Texas Gov. Greg Abbot tweeted “Texas is OPEN 100%.” Mask mandates have been lifted and all businesses may now open at full capacity.
Arizona and West Virginia ended capacity limits for businesses, but have kept social distancing measures and mask mandates. Connecticut is also looking at ending capacity limits on businesses. Massachusetts lifted capacity limits for indoor dining, and South Carolina and Virginia loosened curfews for bars and restaurants. California is planning to reintroduce amusement park attendants and sports fans to the state in early April.
Virginia, Wyoming, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Kentucky and Michigan are also among the list of states who have lifted restrictions.
While cases and deaths in the U.S. were low last month, and vaccines are being given to more and more people, the fact remains that COVID-19 has not gone away, and I don’t see why we should lift any restrictions until it does.
The U.S. has had over 29.1 million coronavirus cases since March 2020, and more than 526 thousand people have died. While there are now three “brands” of vaccines available (Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson), only 9.54% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated.
There have also been at least five other strains of coronavirus discovered since March 2020. One strain, called B.1.526, was discovered in New York, and White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned that it may be able to evade antibody treatments and vaccines. The others include B.1.1.7 from the U.K, B.1.351 from South Africa, P.1 from Brazil and B.1.427/B.1.429 from California.
It is especially shocking to hear that California plans to reopen parts of their state in any capacity, given that they have their own strain of coronavirus. Though state Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said that the state government feels “like now is the appropriate time to begin to reintroduce these activities in some fashion,” I couldn’t disagree more.
Until we have no new strains of COVID-19, or until there have been no new cases for quite some time, I don’t believe we should even be looking at lifting restrictions or ending mask mandates. Letting down our guards before the problem is even solved will undoubtedly lead to more problems. I understand many in the country are eager to return to a normal life, but there will be no normal if we as a country continue to not take COVID-19 seriously.
Categories: Opinion
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