Is it really time to let your guard down?

After the Centers of Disease Control announced a mask less policy, based on the number of hospitalizations, vaccination status and prevalence of positive cases, people were overjoyed. Public places opened doors to welcome eager visitors who are out to have fun and put the pandemic behind them. The message read on everyone face is ‘Covid -19 is a thing of the past and it can no longer control our lives’. But how true is it?

I had a chance of being at the Union Station last night in Washington and was horrified to see the majority stepping out of trains with no masks. My main worry is that we are being over enthusiastic and somewhat negligent in letting go of the mask too soon. Yes, according to NBC news data, in every state of the United States the rate of hospitalization has decreased by at least 47% and in many states even as much as 70%. In the past one month, the daily death rates have gone down by more than 43%, coming down from a one-week average of 2,600 per day.

But can we ignore the fact that we are still having 1,500 deaths/day?

We Americans as a nation have seen our death graphs go so sky high over the past two years, with a total death count from Coronavirus being above 950,000, that having 1,500 deaths per day appears minimal. If we step back and look at our numbers from March 2020 to March 2022, the reduction in numbers is encouraging, but still of concern.

The fact that there are still gaps in our health system and primarily in healthcare services in some states, with laboratories not well equipped for testing Coronavirus, especially its new variants, does point towards a need for maintaining caution. Letting go of the masks outdoors is acceptable as long as you are fully vaccinated, can maintain social distance, are not immunocompromised or taking care of an immunocompromised individual, old or young.

Don’t throw away all your masks, have them handy in case you come across people coughing and sneezing. One good thing that the Coronavirus has taught us is taking care of basic hygiene. Everyone is in the habit of washing hands frequently, especially when returning from public spaces, and it has become a habit for the majority. Kids growing up in this pandemic will have good hygiene habits for life.  

Word of caution for everyone is: do not let your guard down yet. Carry your hand sanitizer still, with frequent use – remember it kills most of the germs, including Coronavirus, that you pick up from anywhere and get sick because of. Wait, don’t let go of your masks yet!